Dions sells to Circle K
Copy article link
Save
FLORIDA KEYS You might have noticed a difference if you tried to go to Dions Quik Chik over the last few days. They are all becoming a part of the Circle K empire of fast-food stores.
But dont panic. The original Chicken of the Keys isnt going anywhere.
Dions Director of Operations Joshua Crider said he was informed last week that the stores would be transitioning to the Circle K brand.
I know this was in the works, but on Wednesday, I received an email that we would be transitioning, and I needed to be in Key West that morning, Crider said. I had about six hours to get ready.
Details of the acquisition were not made publicly available. Still, Crider confirmed it did involve all 11 of Dions fast-food markets, except for the one-off mini grocery on Stock Island.
And Crider will maintain the chicken staple that has been a Keys favorite for more than three decades.
One of the reasons I stayed on was to help them develop a chicken program, Crider said by phone. It will still be available in our delis, and the same delicious chicken folks have come to expect from us.
Dions Quik Chik is the only fried chicken that can boast a rich and decades-long history rooted in both family and the Florida Keys.
It was based on a Dion family recipe created and passed down from generation to generation and first introduced to the public in the 1980s by Larry and Flo Dion.
The recipe was kept a family secret until 2016 when the Dions felt they could finally entrust their secret to Steve and Linda Uphoff of Uppys Convenient Stores, according to its website.
Using a top-secret blend of regional spices and fresh local chicken, Dions Quik Chik recipe is still kept under lock and key to this day.
Uphoff Ventures LLC expanded into the Keys and South Dade, purchasing 11 Dions Quik Mart gas stations and convenience stores from Dion Oil Co. in 2016.
Twenty years of my oil career has been spent building a family business, so its a sincere honor to acquire Dion Oil Co., which was established in 1948 and has been continuously operated by the Dion family, Steven Uphoff, founder in 1995 of the Uppys convenience-store chain now Circle K stores and former president and CEO of Southside Oil told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 4:00 am