Lonnie McQuirter

Lonnie McQuirter, Director of Operations
36 Lyn Refuel Station

Lonnie McQuirter is the owner and operator of 36 Lyn Refuel Station, a small independent convenience and fuel retailer in South Minneapolis. Lonnie didn’t inherit a playbook, he wrote one, turning a generic branded gas station into one of the most recognized independent retailers in the country. Lonnie has never waited for the industry to tell him what’s next, from installing one of Minneapolis’s first EV fast charging stations to running the store entirely on renewable energy since 2015.
36 Lyn is a three-time Inc. 5000 honoree and an NRF America’s Retail Champion. The store carries a wide variety of locally sourced and better-for-you items, a deliberate commitment, not a marketing angle. McQuirter has been featured in *Kiplinger* and named to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Fast 50.

Lonnie’s industry involvement runs deep, from the store level all the way to national policy. He serves on both the NACS Board of Directors and the Conexxus Board of Directors and holds the Vice Chairman role on NACS’s Legislative Committee. He’s recognized as a go-to voice for legislative advocacy representing the convenience channel. He chaired the Minnesota Retailers Association in 2018.

What Lonnie brings to SOVG is the perspective of an operator who has had to solve every problem himself: technology, energy, hiring, community relations, vendor negotiations, all of it without the safety net of a larger chain. His view is simple: small operators can’t afford to be complacent, and the challenges facing independent c-stores are as much political and regulatory as they are operational.