Casey’s sits at the intersection of convenience stores and quick-service restaurants, said Darren Rebelez, company chairman, president and CEO.
Rebelez spoke Wednesday at the Ankeny, Iowa-based company’s 2026 Investor Day, where it unveiled its new three-year strategic plan, which includes adding 400 stores in the next three years. The event was held in New York City and also webcast. Casey’s 2026 fiscal year ended April 30.
“Casey’s stands alone in the public marketplace as the only ‘convenience QSR,’” Rebelez said, adding that the company’s “proven and resilient model has a long runway for compounding growth that will continue to generate even more shareholder value in the years to come.”
- Casey’s General Stores is No. 3 on CSP’s 2026 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Casey’s is an S&P 500 company that operates nearly 3,000 convenience stores in 19 states, primarily in the Midwest, he said. It’s the third largest convenience-store chain in the United States.
Casey’s also is the fifth largest pizza chain in the U.S. and has the fourth-most liquor licenses of any retailer in the U.S., Rebelez said. “It’s this combination of restaurant-quality food, inside offering and fuel capability within one convenience box that makes Casey’s truly unique,” he said.
Rebelez added that Casey’s has some unique advantages that set it apart from the convenience and QSR industries:
- First, about two-thirds of Casey's stores are in towns of 20,000 people or fewer, giving the company a strong market position in rural areas.
- Second, its prepared food program is “unmatched within the convenience space with restaurant-quality food across all dayparts,” he said.
- Casey’s also supports “an advanced AI-enabled technology platform, coupled with our nearly 11 million rewards members, driving higher spend, increased visit frequency and more personalized guest engagement,” he said.
- Fourth, Casey’s is vertically integrated, distributing both inside products and fuel, giving the company positive control over the value chain and the ability to support its rural footprint.
- Lastly, “This is all supported by our consolidated scale and amplified by our 100% company-owned and -operated retail stores, where we have end-to-end control over the upstream partnerships with vendors, enabling quicker speed to market for in-store execution,” he said.
Rebelez said these advantages “create an operating model that’s unmatched in the public marketplace.” He added that Casey’s convenience QSR operating model creates a flywheel effect for compounding earnings growth.
“What makes our model so powerful is the flywheel it creates, a three-legged stool with prepared food and dispensed beverages, grocery and general merchandise, and fuel all operating under one cost structure,” Rebelez said. “Our guests can visit our stores and simultaneously get a hot meal, a cool beverage and fuel their vehicle all with one trip.”
With growing traffic, Casey’s operating leverage improves while also increasing resiliency and reducing earnings volatility because the company is not overly reliant on any one line of business, he said.
“We made a commitment to accelerate the food business,” Rebelez said. “Our prepared food and dispensed beverage sales grew at a 10% CAGR (compound annual growth rate), which are standout results relative to public restaurant peers.”
These results were fueled by 60% growth in Casey's Rewards members and expansion of the wings and fries platform to 850 stores.
Regarding making “great strides” in leveraging technology, Rebelez gave an example of an AI demand-driven forecasting tool that has helped Casey’s reduce distribution center working capital by 33% and improved order fulfillment at its stores.
“Combining the best of convenience and QSR at scale gives us confidence in our ability to meet or exceed our commitments over the next three-year strategic plan,” Rebelez said.
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