ANKENY, Iowa — Casey’s General Stores Inc. said that its board of directors has appointed Darren Rebelez, former president of the IHOP restaurant chain, as Casey’s president and CEO, effective June 24. He will also join Casey’s board.
Rebelez will succeed Casey’s President and CEO Terry Handley, who will retire from the company and board after a 38-year career with Casey’s.
Rebelez joins Casey’s with more than 25 years of business leadership experience focused on operations, marketing and merchandising for large corporations in each of the convenience-store, fuel and restaurant industries. He has been president of IHOP restaurants, a unit of Dine Brands Global, since 2015. He resigned from that position on June 4.
Prior to joining IHOP, Rebelez spent nearly eight years with 7-Eleven Inc., where he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before 7-Eleven, he held numerous management roles within ExxonMobil and Thornton Oil. Rebelez was an infantry officer in the First Cavalry Division for the U.S. Army and a veteran of the Persian Gulf War.
“We are thrilled to welcome Darren to the Casey’s family,” said H. Lynn Horak, chairman of the board. “Darren brings a remarkable combination of leadership experience in the convenience-store, fuel and restaurant industries, and he has an impressive track record of driving performance and innovation. We have enjoyed getting to know Darren through our succession planning process and are confident that he will build on Casey’s strong heritage of customer service, employee development, giving back to our communities, and our focus on creating sustainable growth and profitability.”
Horak also said, “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Terry for his dedication and tremendous contributions to Casey’s over his nearly four decades with the company. The company has benefitted greatly from Terry’s contributions over the years. We wish Terry many years of enjoyment and fulfillment in his retirement.”
Based in Ankeny, Iowa, Casey’s has 2,100 convenience stores in 16 states throughout the Midwest. It is No. 4 in the Top 40 update of CSP’s2018 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of retail outlets.
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