How do you join an already successful company and enhance it even further? Ask Darren Rebelez, president and CEO of Casey’s General Stores Inc. and winner of CSP’s 2024 Retail Leader of the Year.
He might recommend one of his favorite books, “The Boys in the Boat,” about an American rowing team going for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It piqued Rebelez’s interest because he was a rower in college, but its themes have stayed top of mind at work.
To Rebelez, teamwork is about the commitment of everybody in the boat to row in the same direction.
“We’ve placed a lot of emphasis on all of us staying aligned,” Rebelez said. “What’s just as important as what we focus on is what we don’t focus on. We don’t like to chase the shiny new objects, and there’s a never-ending stream of those available. We try to stay really disciplined that way, and in doing so, it’s a lot easier for everybody to be moving in the same direction.”
Casey's General Stores Inc. is No. 3 on CSP's 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Rebelez is the kind of leader who “enjoys watching his people succeed,” said Lynn Horak, who was a former Casey’s board chair since 2009 and president of the board from 2017 to 2023. “He is smart, he’s driven, he’s capable, he’s caring, he’s totally transparent. He cares deeply about the guests that come in and out of all of our Casey’s stores. He’s the best leader I’ve ever seen, actually.”
“We’ve placed a lot of emphasis on all of us staying aligned.” —Darren Rebelez, Casey's
In 2019, Casey’s was looking for a new leader who was inspirational and could recruit high-level team members, said Horak.
“There were a lot of good candidates, but clearly, Darren was the best,” Horak said. “We knew that at the time. Now, you fast-forward five years, and we clearly know that Darren has just been outstanding in everything he’s done at Casey’s. We couldn’t have asked for more.”
When selecting Rebelez as CEO, Horak was drawn to him because his background optimized his skill set and understanding of the convenience-store industry.
“His background was in foodservice, convenience stores, fuel and, of course, that’s the perfect trifecta to run a convenience-store business throughout the country.”
Rebelez agrees that Casey’s is a combination of his entire career’s work.
“I’ve worked in the convenience-store industry, the restaurant industry and in oil and gas with ExxonMobil,” said Rebelez. “It was an exciting fit for me, and I love the leadership challenge of leading a company.”
His vision for the company was clear, Horak said. Rebelez recruited an outstanding management team that’s one of the most diverse senior leadership teams in the country for the size of the company.
“He’s a natural leader,” Horak said. “People want to work for him.”
He quickly established trust with the people at Casey’s because he cares, Horak said.
“I know because I watched him, and I sat in a lot of meetings with him, and I used to go to the cafeteria with him and have a cup of coffee and chat,” Horak said. “He just cares deeply. It becomes very clear for anyone who’s around him that it’s never about Darren.”
When Rebelez arrived, the culture became more collaborative, said Brian Johnson, senior vice president of investor relations and business development for Casey’s.
“It used to be suits and ties every day, and now it’s a little more of a casual environment,” said Johnson.
Shortly after Rebelez became CEO, Casey’s acquisitions business sped up and expanded the company’s path to new states and territories, said Horak. Rebelez brought speed from his large-scale acquisition experience at 7-Eleven, where he worked for seven years as executive vice president, COO and senior vice president of store operations.
Casey’s recently acquired Fikes Wholesale Inc., owner of 198 CEFCO Convenience Stores, which is its biggest acquisition yet. The transaction will increase Casey’s overall retail footprint by 7% and open new territories for the regional c-store retailer, not only in Texas, but also in several states in the South.
Casey’s has grown from 2,097 stores in 2019 to nearly 2,600 stores in 2024.
“I think it really is a reflection of the maturity of our team and the growth and experience that they’ve developed over the last several years on different acquisitions that led us to this point where we feel really comfortable being able to successfully integrate this,” Rebelez said.
The acquisitions have had a big impact on accelerating Casey’s growth, said Johnson.
“We’ve done a few more sizable transactions since then, and we just get more and more confident as we get more of those under our belt,” he said.
Casey’s stock prices have also increased since 2019 when Rebelez joined the team, from $132.34 on May 1, 2019, to $391.32 on Oct. 24, 2024, according to Casey’s.
Store growth is the “lifeblood of success,” said Horak, and Rebelez continues to find ways to provide financial growth for shareholders due to his leadership and team at Casey’s.
“Companies need to transform,” Horak said. “Darren brought those transformational skills with him from all of his previous experiences. [He has] an appetite for acquisitions.”
One of Rebelez’s favorite mantras is “welcome to the NFL,” said Johnson.
“He’s describing a situation where it’s going to be a hard job, hard work,” Johnson said. “We’re going to have to put a lot of effort into it. But he views this team, this company, as the NFL — the best of the best.”
It’s not always about making a splash with landscape acquisitions, Johnson said.
Instead of pushing Casey’s into growth right away, Rebelez had the patience to wait for the right time, Horak said.
“I think it’s a combination of Darren just knowing the speed of when to do things, and I think that’s true in his whole life,” Horak said. “He’s very thoughtful about everything that he does.”
Since Rebelez has taken on the role of CEO, the chain launched Casey’s Rewards and underwent its first full-scale rebrand in company history in 2020; expanded its private-label offerings, building on more than 300 snack and beverage options; and began installing electric vehicle charging stations, which are now available at Casey’s locations in 12 states.
Casey’s has not stopped innovating its pizza offerings by revamping its program and adding thin-crust pizza and multiple new flavors, including beer cheese breakfast pizza, BBQ Brisket and more.
Teamwork-Oriented
Rebelez takes teamwork seriously. He doesn’t like answering the question or solving the problem for anyone, Johnson said.
“He definitely wants his team to bring on answers and have a conversation around him,” Johnson said. “And look, if it makes sense to him, we’ll move forward. But it’s very much through collaboration and discussion. He leans on his team to bring those solutions to the table.”
He isn’t above learning from those around him through these kinds of conversations. He’s curious about what’s next and what else there is to learn, said Lesley Saitta, owner, managing partner and CEO of Impact 21, Washington D.C., which has helped guide her in her own career.
“I think what you learn in that environment [the military] is that you’re only as good as the people around you,” Rebelez said.
Rebelez served as an infantry officer for the U.S. Army in the First Cavalry Division from 1988 to 1991 after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“The better you can make all of your people, the better off your team will be, your group, your company. And the leader gets to enjoy the benefits of that and the success or failure if you don’t do it very well.”
Carrie Stojack, vice president of guest insights for Casey’s, said that she’s learned the importance of listening to everyone in the room because of Rebelez.
“The one thing he’d never want to have happen is that he’s surrounded by a lot of people who are just saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ ” Stojack said. “I’ve learned even more about just listening to different perspectives.”
He’s a servant leader, according to all of Rebelez’s colleagues, family and friends, putting the needs of his employees first and focusing on their well-being and growth.
“It’s not beneath him to do something that he wouldn’t expect others to do,” said Victor Arias, Rebelez’s friend.
He leads by example, Arias said, and he expects the same from the people around him.
His military background has resulted in Rebelez shouldering more than his fair share, said Stojack. He also embraces change.
Rebelez promotes a data-driven decision-making culture. He wants opinions checked at the door, Johnson said.
“Solutions need to be rooted in the information provided and not just your opinion or gut,” said Johnson. “You do a lot more homework before you get in front of Darren. You better have facts behind a potential solution you’re offering versus just going off of opinion. He has no time for opinions.”
Rebelez describes his leadership style as “helping people to be successful and giving them what they need to be successful, and that isn’t always what they want, but it is what they need,” he said.
Rebelez has vast knowledge about this business, and he cares very deeply about the people and all of the constituents associated with the Casey’s business, Horak said.
“Darren expects you to be accountable, to own your business and to speak up if something’s not right,” said Ena Williams, COO of Casey’s. “He expects you to have a point of view and challenge status quo all of the time, but at the end of the day, he’s there. He’s fighting in the trenches with you.”
Easing Operations
Apart from growth through acquisitions, Casey’s has streamlined operations due to Rebelez’s belief in serving and supporting employees on the store level.
On his first day on the job, he changed the name of what was previously the Corporate Headquarters to what is now the Store Support Center.
Rebelez likes to know what’s going on in the company, he said, and one way he does that is by visiting stores and distribution centers frequently. He talks to team members.
“The easy way is just going into our cafeteria at lunch and picking a table and sitting down and talking to people, asking them what’s going on in their part of the business,” Rebelez said.
Early on, Rebelez also formed an operation support team that makes sure the corporate team is only helping store-level employees improve the guest and employee experience, not hindering it.
“After being out in stores for a while and talking to people, I realized that we had made the job really hard on our people, and we weren’t intending to do that; it was just the outcome of adding a lot of different initiatives and things to our operation,” Rebelez said.
As a result of listening to people, he started a continuous improvement team, which focuses on in-store processes and removing work. Employees are accomplishing more but feel like they have more hours to execute by simplifying it, Rebelez said.
“The employees are happier because they can spend more time with the guests, which is what they like to do, and the guests are happier because they have a better store experience,” said Johnson. “And I think that all comes from just this idea of service in trying to help those stores do their job more effectively and more fun.”
For example, store employees used to do the apron and uniform laundry at the stores. After hiring a third-party service to do that work, employee engagement scores rose because they were happy to see that come off their plate, Johnson said. In exchange for the time spent on the laundry, they now spend time interacting with customers, cleaning the store and making it a better experience all around, he said.
“We are here to support the stores,” Johnson said. “The stores are not here to support us. That’s probably been the single most impressive thing that [Rebelez] opened my eyes to, having stores work smarter, not harder.”
Rebelez is a natural leader, said Horak, and people want to work for him.
“The one thing he’d never want to have happen is that he’s surrounded by a lot of people who are just saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ ” —Carrie Stojack, Casey's
“Whether it was at 7-Eleven or at IHOP or at Casey’s, he’s got this incredible ability to have people follow him because his leadership is about serving others,” Arias said.
Saitta adds, “I think he’s really accumulated this kind of group of us that are disciples of Darren. … I think he’s taken this team with him on this journey and gotten so many people excited, and then brought in new people with another added layer of diversity and inclusion and has really been successful.”
A lot of people in his network moved to Ankeny, Iowa, alongside him, said Horak.
“It wasn’t necessarily because they wanted to move to Ankeny, I don’t think,” Horak said. “I think was because they wanted to work for Rebelez.”
While recruiting, he looked for people that had the same belief system as him about trust, innovation and culture, Horak said. Casey’s already had a strong culture, and Rebelez strengthened it.
In fact, implementing change at a time when a business is already successful is what Johnson sees as one of the most impressive things about Rebelez.
“I think it’s easy for leaders to get maybe complacent or a little defensive if change is brought to their attention when things are going well,” Johnson said. “With respect to Darren and how it worked, he did a great job of laying out a very clear picture of the capabilities and changes he wanted to make and the related benefits that would come with those. And I think he got the buy-in from the team right away. And that buy-in came from longer, tenured folks like me as well as some of the new faces we have on the team.”
Rebelez said his vision at the start was for Casey’s to become bigger, better and more contemporary, but he didn’t want to radically change the fabric of the company.
He quickly established trust with the people who were already at the company when he joined, Horak said. He’s good at understanding what his employees need, how they work and how to be inclusive.
“It becomes very clear for anyone who’s around him that it’s never about Darren. It’s what’s best for the company, and it’s what’s best for the people that work with him and for him, that’s what he really cares about. Can he make decisions in the end? Yes, but he will certainly try to learn from everyone around him what the best decision is.”
Diversity: Casting a Wide Net
Rebelez has introduced more diversity into the company, said Saitta, even going outside the industry for talent. The people that he’s brought in are going to change the face of this channel, she said.
“He makes sure that he has a wide range of candidates to choose from, and that’s the key, to not just pick someone just because of DEI,” said Williams, Casey’s COO. “You cast your net, so then you can choose the very best person for the job. He’s very intentional about that, and he’s done extremely well. You can see it in our leadership team.”
It makes people want to work for him, Williams said.
Johnson was born and raised in Iowa and has been on the team at Casey’s since 2003, but he appreciates Rebelez for valuing a variety of backgrounds to bring a variety of perspectives to a problem. Forty-five percent of Casey’s board members are women.
Rebelez believes that it “yields the best answer at the end of day through a collaborative effort of all those people on the team.” Rebelez cares about his employees and wants them to know that he is on their team.
“He likes to go to the kitchens where the employees are working and to the warehouses and hang out, see what they’re doing,” said Carlos Rebelez, Darren’s father. “And in a couple instances he went into the kitchens and some of the employees ... started to speak Spanish, not realizing that Darren was Mexican and spoke Spanish. After a couple minutes, [Darren] revealed his other side, and they all shared a laugh. It’s built this little niche between the two of them. They said, ‘OK, he’s one of us.’ They started sharing stories, and they had a big laugh.”
Darren Rebelez always makes time for people, said Kelsey Burrows, Darren’s daughter, and his toughness comes from a genuine place.
“He loves this job, and it’s so special to see him in a role that he truly loves, and so when we’re talking about it, he is always praising the team and how hard they work and how creative they’re being and how much progress they’ve made over a relatively short period of time,” Burrows said.
Family Values
While he has a strong work ethic, Rebelez can set work aside to focus on his family, said his son, Brandon Rebelez.
“He does a really good job of leaving work at work, and no matter what’s going on, whether it’s been a stressful day or a hard day, that doesn’t trickle into what’s going on at home,” his son said.
My dad was around for sports games and graduations, Brandon Rebelez said, and when he traveled for work, he made an effort to call every single night, said Burrows. When he wasn’t traveling, he ate dinner with his family after work.
“Just being able to have that that family time together, sitting around the table talking about what was going on in our days and just having someone there to talk to was great,” said Brandon Rebelez.
Burrows also looks back fondly at her swimming days when her dad drove her to practice at 4:30 a.m., having “the best conversations about life, what I wanted to be when I grew up and how the world works.”
Brandon Rebelez and his dad took up golf and learned how to play together, and now they try to find time on the course whenever they’re back together, he said.
“One thing that I’ve really admired is how much he’s stayed the same person throughout my life,” said Brandon Rebelez. “It’s just the same guy who’s just trying to do his best.”
Darren Rebelez’s wife, Holly, congratulated her husband at the Retail Leader of the Year award dinner, saying, “I am beyond proud of what Darren has accomplished over 30 years of service as a veteran, a business leader and a father. He is an outstanding leader, but he’s an even more outstanding human being.”
Darren Rebelez’s grandparents immigrated to San Diego from Mexico in the 1920s while they were escaping the Mexican Revolution to give their family a chance at a better life.
“[My parents] were very hard workers, dedicated and they endured some tragic losses,” said Carlos Rebelez. “I’ve listened to their history and talked to them, and seeing everything, that’s where his hard-working character that Darren has come from. No complaints, just do your job and be respectful.”
Rebelez's Legacy
Darren Rebelez’s legacy includes considering the customer more, said Johnson.
Casey’s loyalty program tracks customer behavior, which gives the company visibility on purchasing trends and patterns. The guest insight team that Rebelez set up has impacted Casey’s culinary process, Johnson said.
Stojack said that while interviewing Rebelez for a consulting project, she was impressed with how he viewed the customer.
“He talked a lot about how the guests should be front and center at everything we do and that decisions are really [made] to please the guests and then business success will follow,” she said. “That was just amazing to me that a leader’s thinking that way and the guest is so important to him.”
Serving the community and making people’s lives easier is something Rebelez values about Casey’s. “I was just out in stores yesterday and I was in a town of 850 people,” Rebelez said. “That community really relies on Casey’s for daily needs for their pizza, for their coffee, for their fuel, their groceries, just being there as part of the fabric of the community. I like that we provide products and services that people need every day. And I like the fact that we’re in three different businesses. There’s always something going on.”
Rebelez’s goals for the future of Casey’s also include evolving its food program and continuing to invest in its people through different programs. He aims to grow its store base, with plans to add at least 100 more stores in 2025 through a mix of mergers and acquisitions and new-store construction. In 2025, Casey’s expects EBITDA to increase at least 8%, inside same-store sales to increase 3% to 5% and inside margin comparable to fiscal 2024.
“Being able to move people around into different roles and get them different experiences to grow their leadership capabilities is something that I’m really looking forward to working on,” he said. “That’s been a big shift for us over the last couple of years. We had a little bit of foundational work to do with our human resource function, but we’re kind of past that now. So, now we can focus on the fun stuff, which is growing and developing our people.”
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