Casey’s humble beginnings started in 1968 with the opening of a general store in Boone, Iowa, according to the company's website.
- Casey's General Stores Inc. is No. 3 on CSP's 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
CSP honored Darren Rebelez, president and CEO of Casey's with its 2024 annual Retail Leader of the Year award. CSP took a look back at the company's history to recognize the chain's evolution and how it got the where it is today.
In 1959, Donald Lamberti leased a store from his father in Des Moines, Iowa. After nine years of operating the store, his gasoline supplier and friend, Kurvin C. Fish, suggested that he buy the Square Deal Oil Co. in Boone. Lamberti purchased the service station and, using the knowledge he gained from his store in Des Moines, converted the gas station into a c-store. The Boone store was named “Casey’s” by using Fish’s initials.
Throughout the past 50-plus years, the c-store chain has grown to become the third-largest chain in the United States, according to CSP’s 2024 Top 202 list. Casey’s now spans more than 2,600 stores in 17 states, including Texas, which it entered in November 2023 after acquiring W. Douglass Distributing Ltd.’s 22 Lone Star Food Stores.
In July, Casey’s agreed to acquire Fikes Wholesale Inc., owner of CEFCO Convenience Stores, in an all-cash transaction for $1.145 billion. The proposed transaction would increase Casey’s footprint to nearly 2,900 stores, along with expanding Casey’s presence into the attractive Texas and southern markets, the company said.
Its footprint isn’t the only way it has evolved over the years. In 1983, Casey’s became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ. As of Oct. 24, its stock price reached $391.32. In 1985, it introduced made-from-scratch pizza in Waukee, Iowa. Today it has expanded its pizza offering, became known for its breakfast pizza and considers itself the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. In 2020, it launched its loyalty program, Casey’s Rewards, which now has more than 8 million members. The same year it also launched the first full-scale rebrand in company history.
Casey’s expects to continue its growth trajectory. In the company’s earnings released in June, its fiscal 2025 outlook included increasing EBITDA at least 8% and adding at least 100 stores through a mix of mergers and acquisitions and new store construction.
Casey’s General Stores operates its convenience stores in the greater Midwestern states under the Casey’s and GoodStop brands and in Texas under the Lone Star Food Stores brand. The company is the third-largest convenience-store retailer, the fourth-largest holder of liquor licenses and the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States.
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