Yesway is focusing its growth on new builds in 2023, with one acquisition in sight in coming weeks. The retailer plans to build 28 new convenience stores this year, largely funded through a recent $190 million investment.
Tom Trkla, Yesway’s CEO, told CSP Daily News the new-build stores will be in Texas and New Mexico, and possibly Oklahoma. They will primarily be branded Allsup’s, though some may be under the Yesway banner.
While new growth is the focus in 2023, Yesway is under contract for a five-store acquisition in Texas that is slated to close in the next month, Trkla said in early February.
- BW Gas & Convenience Holdings, which owns Yesway and Allsup's, is No. 21 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
The new builds will have 5,630 square feet of merchandising space, 24 fuel positions and high-speed diesel fueling lanes, Trkla said. Like new stores opened in 2022, stores will be open 24 hours a day and sell items such as Allsup’s “world-famous burritos,” Yesway and Allsup’s private-label snacks, a trucker/automotive section, grocery items, a beer cave and more. Services include Western Union, ATM availability and Coin Cloud digital currency machines.
Some of the new builds may also include Allsup’s Markets, which have an expanded selection of grocery and perishable items.
Yesway, owned by BW Gas & Convenience Holdings, acquired the Allsup’s convenience-store chain in 2019. The company has had aggressive growth goals, reaching a total store count of 425 in November in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska.