The chain now [image-nocss] has a footprint of more than 1,600 stores in 11 states--approximately 450 in Iowa. And 75% of Casey's stores are located in communities with 10,000 or fewer residents. A little more than half of Casey's stores are in towns of 3,500 or fewer.
Walljasper told the newspaper that there have been internal conversations the last six to eight months about adding postal retail (including stamps) to Casey's stores, as well as "ongoing conversations with the Postal Service, looking to see if there is an opportunity--is it a viable partnership?"
But, unlike grocery chains, Walljasper said, the space within his c-stores is limited to about 2,500 square feet or less. Is there enough room to handle, store and distribute large packages for mailing? Start talking about higher implementation costs for Casey's and that begins to defray any savings for the Postal Service compared to a traditional post office.
"Logistically, do we have the space to do those types of things?" Walljasper said. "The opportunity does have certainly some legs to at least continue those conversations."
He also thinks the idea dovetails with the chain's core small-town business, he said. "Anything you can do to create more customer traffic--different product offerings, pricing or service--I think that would benefit the company," he told the Register.
Casey's in recent months has remodeled and expanded about 10% of its stores, Walljasper said, adding sub sandwich stations, coffee varieties and bigger beer coolers.
When it comes to postal outlets in Iowa's Casey's locations, "I wouldn't look for it necessarily any time in the near future," Walljasper said.
In other Casey's news, The sole truckstop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will be rebranded as a Casey's General Store under an expansion planned by the company, reported Eastern Iowa Business.
Casey's said that plans to expand the Just Diesel truckstop on I-380. The plan would add regular gasoline and the Casey's quick-service restaurant concept to the location, Walljasper told the paper.
While resembling a large convenience store, Walljasper said, the facility will have a separate diesel fueling island for trucks separated from the other fueling islands.
"We have several of these in our markets, including Osceola and Stewart," he added.
The new Casey's would be a short distance away from an existing Casey's store, which would remain open.
At the truckstop site, plans call for demolishing the existing 2,925-square-foot building and replacing it with a larger 6,631-square-foot building at a different location that will be farther from I-380. Casey's plans to expand parking from 55 spaces to 132 spaces, including 95 truck spaces, it said.
Walljasper said Casey's plans to begin the redevelopment of the property this fall, pending regulatory approvals. A target date has not been set for completion, but Walljasper said the project would be lengthier than a typical store renovation because it would involve a building relocation, considerable paving and other work.
The Cedar Rapids Planning Commission approved a preliminary site development plan for the project, said the report; a final site plan must still be approved by the community development staff.
The 3.5-acre site was a Coastal Oil Station before Nordstrom Oil Co. acquired it in early 2004. Nordstrom Oil added a truck scale, dining area and c-store, renaming the facility Just Diesel. It targeted the needs of truck drivers, and sold only diesel fuel. Nordstrom Oil operated the HandiMart c-store chain. It sold more than 30 of its stores to Casey's in 2007 for about $63 million, including the Just Diesel location, the report said. Just Diesel is one of the last that has not been rebranded as Casey's.
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