Derek Gaskins, formerly chief marketing officer at Yesway, is taking on the role of head of guest experience at bp.
- bp is No. 5 on CSP’s 2025 Top 40 Update to the 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Yesway is No. 19. Watch for the full 2025 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
At bp, Gaskins will report to Lisa Blalock, president and CEO, and lead the merchandising and buying, fresh food and proprietary beverage and store design and development teams. This new leadership position brings together the full scope of store design, guest offers, products and promotions.
Gaskins has been at Yesway, which is owned by BW Gas & Convenience Holdings LLC, for seven years, beginning in 2018. He started as senior vice president of merchandising and procurement.
When he joined the company in 2018, he told CSP, “Customers want the ultimate in personalization, and whether it’s the advertising vehicles or the communication vehicles that we use to reach them, or the merchandise or foodservice that’s in the stores that can change to match the local flair and the local flavor, brands that can figure that out and can crack that code are the ones that are going to win. That was something that from my vantage point was very attractive and led me to want to be a part of this team.”
His role included directing marketing and merchandising strategies with a focus on the organization’s social, mobile and loyalty initiatives.
Yesway, Fort Worth, Texas, began operations in 2015 and acquired Allsup’s in 2019. It operates 435 stores in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Prior to Yesyway, Gaskins was chief customer officer at Rutter’s for five years. He’s also held roles at Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores, NACS and Giant Eagle.
Earlier this month, Darrin Samaha, former president of marketing for Yesway, moved to Parker’s Kitchen as vice president of marketing.
Take a look at CSP’s coverage of Gaskins over the last few years:
- Convenience-Store Insiders See Retail Media Networks and Regulation as Disruptors
- 3 Technology Takeaways From the 2024 NACS Show
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Embracing Meritocracy
Global energy company bp, which has U.S. headquarters in Chicago, owns TravelCenters of America and convenience-store brands ampm and Thorntons in the United States.
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