CHEYENNE - After many years of work, the former Kum and Go building at the corner of South Greeley Highway and East College Drive is approaching its conversion into a tire/wheel shop called The Wheel Stop.
Note: Cheyenne's The Wheel Stop is not to be confused with other unrelated and independent wheel shops across America that happen to share a similar/the same name.
A look at the history: former gas station?
If you are newer to Cheyenne (later than 2016), it might surprise you to learn that this building started as a convenience store. Built in 1979 per the Laramie County Property Assessor GIS, it opened as a Seven-Eleven store. The address of this 7-11 was much different back then as confirmed by a 1980 Cheyenne City Directory which lists this business at 835 South Greeley Highway. Nowadays, the address is 1617 S Greeley Hwy.
| TOP: 7-Eleven in Fort Collins on Remington Street that is still operational today. BOTTOM: Kum and Go on South Greeley Highway that was still operational as of June 2012 - Google Maps Street View |
This 7-Eleven is one of three Cheyenne 7-Eleven stations that would be sold to and rebranded as Kum & Go in 1998. Google Maps Street View from June 2012 shows Kum & Go still operational, but it closed by the mid-2010s.
➥ Wyoming's 7-Eleven craze, twenty-ish years after exiting Wyoming
In May 2016, Jeff Truchot of the Wyoming Business Report (see archived article on Wayback Machine) reported that 7-Eleven bought three corner store locations from CST Brands, including two in Cheyenne and one in Laramie. KingFM's Steve Cooper reported that one of these soon-to-be 7-Eleven sites was the South Greeley Highway building; text displayed below their photo of the South Greeley building stated, "The once and future 7 - Eleven at South Greeley Highway and West College in Cheyenne."
 Former South Greeley Kum and Go seen as of late 2019 - Optopolis |
But the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years... before long, it became increasingly clear to then-younger-Optopolis that 7-Eleven was never coming back to Cheyenne in the fashion which it once was. The reason why actually dates back to around December 2016; less than a year after 7-Eleven purchased the land, Convenience Store News reported that 7-Eleven was set to shed all three Wyoming sites because they had no other Wyoming convenience stores.
This wasn't even the end of 7-Eleven in Cheyenne, however, as in recent years, 7-Eleven co-owned Cheyenne's USA Gasoline's property (read more about USA Gasoline's closure here). In fact, 7 Eleven Inc and Western Refining Retail LLC both are still listed as owners on the property which was previously slated for a new Dunkin Donuts.
➥ Previous plan prior to wheel shop fell through.
According to Cheyenne Development News' Facebook post from 2023, there were plans for some sort of breakfast restaurant to open at this location, but those plans clearly fell through. Although Optopolis isn't currently able to confirm additional details, there was a permit submitted many years ago for a different business at this location, but that plan never seemed to coalesce.
The Wheel Stop begins their project
Back at the start of October 2021, scaffolding could be seen in place at the site of the former Kum and Go; at the time of Optopolis' visit, the facade and front-facing wall both were in the process of getting a paint job. Within the next week, most of the building already had been painted in a nearly-white color. At the time, Optopolis was unaware of what was happening to the building, but in hindsight, this seems to be the start of The Wheel Stop.
| TOP LEFT: Repainting and scaffolding seen in late 2021 | TOP RIGHT: building had been repainted by late 2022 and confirmed to be future home of The Wheel Stop. BOTTOM LEFT: Signage was installed as of July 2023 | BOTTOM RIGHT: Right-turn entryway from College had been constructed as of June 2024 - Optopolis |
Once the building was painted to a mixture of grey tones, things seemed to go quiet with very little progression. However, by November 2022, Optopolis determined that the building was the soon-to-be-home of The Wheel Stop. By July 2023, signage was installed for the new business. By early to mid-2024, the parking lot had been resurfaced, and the parking lot entryway from East College Drive had been partially reconstructed in such a way that limits vehicular entry primarily to west-bound car traffic entering the parking lot.
➥ Work begins on a car garage with multiple bays
By the end of April 2025, the framework for a new garage was being built between Dollar General and The Wheel Stop. The building includes three bay doors which will be accessible from the parking lot along South Greeley Highway, and it appeared to be nearing completion as of July 2025.
| TOP: Garage frame work stands to the north of The Wheel Stop's main building. BOTTOM: Garage with three bays appears mostly completed, fencing removed. - Optopolis |
Early glimpse at the future of the project
Additional details of the tire/wheel shop aren't currently clear to Optopolis (as of the time of originally writing this article). It's not yet clear to Optopolis as to when the shop will open or what its hours will be. The Wheel Stop appears to have a website, but aside from providing the address of the business, the website largely appears to still be under construction at this time.
However, one of the parcel detail pages in the Laramie County Planning website indicates that this tire/wheel shop is only the first phase of the project; other files included with the permits at this location display future plans to build ten commercial units which would be located east of the neighboring 1-story ranch house.
 This area east of The Wheel Stop will soon include a parking lot and ten commercial units, forming a small strip plaza. |
The units (which are planned to measure 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep) would be built on top of mostly and currently-vacant land, although one of the sheds at the neighboring house likely would be demolished as part of this phase.
Share your thoughts...
What do you think of this former gas station becoming a wheel/tire shop? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Originally Published: 08/02/2025 at 2:31 PM MT
Updated: N/A