OnCue OKC Expansion

[Thomas Vu]

One disadvantage for as long as I can remember for QT, they dont' offer 100% gas. Not sure if that's still the case.

Else it's brand loyalty. Kum & Go was the only competition when I lived there, and QT blew em away.

[baralheia]

The QT Kitchens sandwiches are really good. Before they changed them to not come with any sauces pre-applied, the Triple Stack was my kryptonite. They had a spread on there similar to miracle whip, but not quite as sweet, and it made that sandwich utterly delicious. QT also has amazing cashiers... Stupendously fast at cashing you out. OnCue's cashiers are better than average, but still not quite as good as QT. One thing that used to be a disadvantage for OnCue was QT sells Top Tier detergent gasoline; Until OnCue switched to exclusively dispensing Phillips 66 fuels, it wasn't known if OnCue's gasoline was Top Tier as well.

[Pete]

^

Yes, the cashiers and process for checking out at QT is fantastic.

They take your card, quickly swipe it, ask if you want your receipt and then are on your way.

All the places (like OnCue) that have the customer swipe their own card really slows things down because people always take forever to figure it out, swipe it the right way, enter their PIN, etc.

[TheTravellers]

^

Yes, the cashiers and process for checking out at QT is fantastic.

They take your card, quickly swipe it, ask if you want your receipt and then are on your way.

All the places (like OnCue) that have the customer swipe their own card really slows things down because people always take forever to figure it out, swipe it the right way, enter their PIN, etc.

Semi-related and hopefully not pointlessly negative. What is it with the slow people in checkout lines or at gas stations/convenience stores? When we lived in IL and WA, almost everybody knew how to swipe their cards, used them instead of checks (don't know if they were debit or credit, ours are debit) at grocery stores (and almost everywhere else), and used them all the time at gas pumps. Here, they just don't. Fumble around and write checks after the cashier tells them the total at the store, still goes inside and pays at gas stations, etc. Very curious that the cultural difference is so pronounced (to us), wonder occasionally why it is so different here... That's probably why the QT cashiers do it their way - lots faster (as you said, Pete), they got tired of the lines not moving quikly enough...

[Pete]

^

I can tell you the check out process at most places in California were very bad as well. The average person is in their own little world and couldn't care less about all the people behind them. There are many times where I actually check out and pass the person in front of me, who is still standing there putting all the crap back in their pockets/purse, digging for their keys and sunglasses etc.

I was pained to see the Tulsa's Trader Joes has a new checkout point of sale... The ones in Cali allowed you to swipe your card as soon as the checker started scanning your items and put in your PIN... All you had to do at the end was okay your total and you were on your way.

At the Tulsa store, you can't swipe your card until the checker was finished (at least that's what she told me) and it also has one of those chip-card readers which requires a whole other process and you only know that after you try to swipe your card, again at the end of the ringing up.

[Plutonic Panda]

The ones in Cali allowed you to swipe your card as soon as the checker started scanning your items and put in your PIN... All you had to do at the end was okay your total and you were on your way.

Don't hate for this, but they don't do that anymore. They did when I moved up here a year ago, but now they stopped.

[TheTravellers]

^

I can tell you the check out process at most places in California were very bad as well. The average person is in their own little world and couldn't care less about all the people behind them. There are many times where I actually check out and pass the person in front of me, who is still standing there putting all the crap back in their pockets/purse, digging for their keys and sunglasses etc.

I was pained to see the Tulsa's Trader Joes has a new checkout point of sale... The ones in Cali allowed you to swipe your card as soon as the checker started scanning your items and put in your PIN... All you had to do at the end was okay your total and you were on your way.

At the Tulsa store, you can't swipe your card until the checker was finished (at least that's what she told me) and it also has one of those chip-card readers which requires a whole other process and you only know that after you try to swipe your card, again at the end of the ringing up.

Wow, IL and WA are ahead of the curve, who woulda thunk it?

The whole "can't swipe until the end" is annoying too, hasn't been that way until recently, but at Walgreen's and Barnes & Noble, you can't swipe until you see the little green or blue arrows flashing, very odd that they'd go backwards technologically.

And the chip readers are also annoyingly non-standard - lots of POS terminals *have* the chip reader, but if you try to use it, they won't work and you have to swipe, then there are other ones where it's vice versa - swipe, then it tells you to use the chip reader. I blame the retail sales lobbying association for the swipe-or-insert bullcrap - we, as a nation, should've completely and fully adopted chip readers and chipped cards many many years ago, like Europe, but apparently the lobbying group that represents retailers here in the USA said it would be too expensive for all the shops to convert over to the new standard. Guess what, they had to do it anyway, just 10 years later than Europe, idiots...

[zookeeper]

Wow, IL and WA are ahead of the curve, who woulda thunk it?

The whole "can't swipe until the end" is annoying too, hasn't been that way until recently, but at Walgreen's and Barnes & Noble, you can't swipe until you see the little green or blue arrows flashing, very odd that they'd go backwards technologically.

And the chip readers are also annoyingly non-standard - lots of POS terminals *have* the chip reader, but if you try to use it, they won't work and you have to swipe, then there are other ones where it's vice versa - swipe, then it tells you to use the chip reader. I blame the retail sales lobbying association for the swipe-or-insert bullcrap - we, as a nation, should've completely and fully adopted chip readers and chipped cards many many years ago, like Europe, but apparently the lobbying group that represents retailers here in the USA said it would be too expensive for all the shops to convert over to the new standard. Guess what, they had to do it anyway, just 10 years later than Europe, idiots...

That was pretty blunt, but all true. I've noticed lately that my newer cards work fine some places and then totally hold things up on others. For example, and this is fairly recent but happens a lot, I will swipe the card and it doesn't work (without a reason given) and says to swipe again, it rejects it again and asks you to manually enter your entire CC number and then it works. But we've all wasted that extra time and multiply this by however many people and - you have to wonder.

[turnpup]

Plus, the chip card readers really slow down the process. At Target, for example, I used to be able to swipe my card right at the beginning, then input my PIN, then tell it no cash back, etc., and be completely ready to leave as soon as the cashier finished. Now, with the chip reader, I can't do any of the aforementioned until after the checker has completely finished! So the people in line behind me are having to wait all that time. It's very frustrating.

[AP]

Don't hate for this, but they don't do that anymore. They did when I moved up here a year ago, but now they stopped.

Are you back in LA now?

[DowntownMan]

Living out in the deer creek area, i think a perfect place for the next oncue is right at rockwell and memorial. seems to be a perfect spot for a station with the companies locating out there and there is decent traffic coming in from deer creek there.

[Plutonic Panda]

Are you back in LA now?

Yes sir! I'm in Hollywood right now but I'm about to attend the New York Film academy in May so I'm looking at moving to Studio City so I can walk to school because traffic is horrible in West LA (((

[warreng88]

Drove by the 36th and May OnCue location and they had the pumps in and most of the sign posts have been painted black. Looks a lot better now.

[roci28]

36th and May should be opening pretty soon. The big sign is now painted black, pumps in, landscaping just about complete.

[warreng88]

36th and May should be opening pretty soon. The big sign is now painted black, pumps in, landscaping just about complete.

Drove by it today and the top part of the sign on the north side still needs to be painted. Landscaping is in and lines are painted for parking.

[warreng88]

Real estate fueling OnCue’s OKC growth

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record March 21, 2016

STILLWATER – Fast-growing OnCue Express started in 2004 with the merging of two competitors, Griffith Petroleum and Shaw’s Gulf. For the first two years, the company expanded across northeast and northwest Oklahoma, with stores in Enid, Ponca City and Grove.

“We went as far east as the Oklahoma/Arkansas border and as far north as the Kansas/Oklahoma border,” said Bob Palmer, chief operations officer.

Then, in 2006, the company focused its attention on Oklahoma City. Since that time, it has added 20 convenience stores with fueling and more than 18 active compressed natural gas stations.

OnCue’s stores measure 6,600 square feet, and sit on up to 5 acres of land. The company has a lengthy list of items it evaluates before purchasing land, Palmer said, though he didn’t want to elaborate about what qualifications are on the list. The sudden growth in Oklahoma City occurred because the company found multiple pieces of land for sale at about the same time.

“You can’t predict how frequently you’ll be able to buy property,” he said. “Then, all of a sudden, there’s a giant wave and you’ll buy six.”

Palmer said OnCue’s store design and land size were created by looking across the industry and using some of the best ideas. Other chain stores that have a large footprint include QuikTrip and WaWa in the northeast.

New ideas were added to set OnCue apart, such as adding frozen yogurt inside. The building’s canopy that stretches from the fueling pumps to the store; and the large, door-less entry bathrooms are amenities that make OnCue different than its competitors, Palmer said.

“When you go inside the bathrooms, everything is hand-less,” he said. “That’s something you don’t see in the convenience store business.”

National Association of Convenience Stores spokesman Jeff Lenard has visited an OnCue and said the store is a flavor of QuikTrip. He said the Tulsa-based QuikTrip prides itself on clean stores and good employee relations.

“You have to be in QuikTrip’s league when you’re in the same market,” Lenard said.

He said OnCue’s investment in CNG will pay off in the long run. Because CNG prices are less volatile than gasoline or diesel, the volume of natural gas customers remains consistent. A high percentage of CNG vehicles are part of fleets, which also provide more sales consistency. And it’s fleet drivers who make a substantial portion in-store purchases.

Competitor QuikTrip has an advantage in food offerings, and some stores even have kitchens. OnCue is where QuikTrip was a few years ago in terms of food service, Lenard said, but that is OK.

“If you’re not ready to do food service, don’t get ahead,” he said. “If you disappoint the customer, you’ll lose a lot of money with food and everything else as well.”

[MagzOK]

I like how well lit OnCues are at night, and I love how the roof extends from the pumps to the building. In rain or on a blistery hot summer day that roof is fantastic.

[Slimjim]

i only buy my gas at oncue

[Brett]

Drove by the Hefner Rd. & May Ave. location that is under construction. It looks like the pumps are being installed. My guess is mid-May when it officially opens.

[OKCDrummer77]

Today at NW 10th & Portland. Gas pumps are not in place, and the parking lot is just dirt. A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted to OnCue to ask when they expect this one to open. They replied that they hope to open in early summer.

[Bunty]

Semi-related and hopefully not pointlessly negative. What is it with the slow people in checkout lines or at gas stations/convenience stores? When we lived in IL and WA, almost everybody knew how to swipe their cards, used them instead of checks (don't know if they were debit or credit, ours are debit) at grocery stores (and almost everywhere else), and used them all the time at gas pumps. Here, they just don't. Fumble around and write checks after the cashier tells them the total at the store, still goes inside and pays at gas stations, etc. Very curious that the cultural difference is so pronounced (to us), wonder occasionally why it is so different here... That's probably why the QT cashiers do it their way - lots faster (as you said, Pete), they got tired of the lines not moving quikly enough...

Convenience stores actually take checks? I wouldn't know. I can't remember the last time I gave a check at one of those stores, if I ever started.

[Pete]

The OnCue on Council and I-40 near the outlet shops has the canopy up and is starting to move fast now.

[Brett]

Drove by the May & Hefner location. The sign is up and everything is in place. Looks like a grand opening should happen this week.

[MagzOK]

This one is close to me and my family is ready for it to open!

[Pete]

Their Facebook back says "end of the month" so it may still be a couple of weeks.