ANKENY, Iowa -- Less than a year after first piloting pizza delivery at its stores, Casey's General Stores plans to cautiously grow the program while keeping an eye on results.
"The results have been very positive. We're encouraged by the opportunity to drive sales with that initiative," said CFO Bill Walljasper yesterday during the company's conference call with analysts for its fiscal second-quarter 2012 ended October 31, 2011.
(See related story in this issue of CSP Daily News for more details on Casey's financial results.)
Casey's first tested the program at a single convenience store in Grimes, Iowa, near Des Moines, beginning in April. It expanded it to five more stores in August, and added another 20 sites in November.
"[Our experience with] pizza delivery is very limited, but we're encouraged," Walljasper said. "I would look for another 40 or 50 stores to be added in February or March. We think there's quite a bit of opportunity there, and we look forward to the next six to 12 months to see how far we can take this."
But don't expect every store in the Casey's chain of 1,677 to start offering pizza delivery service.
"It's not for every location. We're trying to find out where it works and where it doesn't," Walljasper said. "But we're encouraged enough by it to go forward with that program."
During its most recent quarter, the second quarter 2012 ending Oct. 31, Casey's same-store prepared food and fountain sales were up 14.2% and 14.8% year to date.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's General Stores has 1,677 stores in 11 Midwestern and Great Plains states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
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