New Bradenton Circle K on the way

Perhaps there is no such thing as having too many Circle Ks.

According to plans filed last week with Manatee County, Circle K is planning to build a new store on a stretch of 30th Avenue East in Bradenton that already features two convenience stores of that brand in a nine-block stretch.

Tempe-based Circle K will build the new, 4,968-square-foot store and gas station on the site of a shuttered service station and repair shop built in 1963. The 2-acre site at the corner of 1st Street East and 30th Avenue West also includes a 40-year-old former convenience store. That address, 107 30th Ave. E., is kitty corner across First Street East from an existing Circle K market. Another Circle K is operating at 904 30th Ave. E.

Records show the property is still owned by a local owner.

A subsidiary of Quebec convenience store company Couche-Tard, Circle K operates about 3,300 stores in the United States and hundreds more worldwide, according to its website. It owns many of its own stores, but also sells store franchises.

Plans on file with the county show that the store will feature both a convenience market and a fueling station. A 6,000-square-foot canopy will cover the gas pumps.

Misty Servia, a planner with King Engineering in Sarasota, said construction of the Circle K will begin as soon as its site plan is approved by the county.

Records did not indicate who is developing the store. Servia declined to name her company's client.

Circle K did not respond to an inquiry about its new station by the Herald’s press deadline.

The new Circle K enters a competitive convenience store and fuel market in the central Bradenton area. A Wawa station opened a few blocks up 1st Avenue East in 2014. A RaceTrac station is also nearby.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "New Bradenton Circle K on the way."