Casey’s is looking to Texas as a prime location to expand its small-town business model, which has thrived in Iowa and across the Midwest, CEO Darren Rebelez says.
“We love Texas,” Rebelez said Wednesday, June 24, at Casey’s investor day in New York City, where the company detailed its strategic plan for the next three years.
Iowa small towns, where Casey’s stores are a common fixture, launched the nearly 60-year-old convenience store chain that is now the nation’s third largest.
“When I think of growth prospects, this is the anecdote I like to give: In Iowa, our home state, we have 550 stores with a population of 3 million people,” Rebelez said. “The population of Texas is 30 million people. So, are we going to put 5,500 stores in Texas? Probably not. But could you squint and see 1,000 stores, 2,000 stores? I don’t see why not.”
Ankeny-based Casey’s expanded its reach to the Lone Star State in 2024 with the purchase of nearly 200 CEFCO-branded convenience stores, the largest acquisition in the company’s history. Of those, 148 are in Texas.
“Our brand has been really well received in Texas,” Rebelez said, while emphasizing the company’s focus on small towns as it expands. “When we look at towns of 20,000 people or less, it’s wide open.”
The company shared a map in its presentation for investors of thousands of towns across the South and Midwest with potential for Casey’s expansion: towns with populations under 20,000 and within 500 miles of one of its three distribution centers in Ankeny; Terre Haute, Indiana; and Joplin, Missouri.
The chain said it aims to add at least 400 stores in the next three years, which would bring its total to more than 3,300, ranking behind only 7-Eleven and Circle K.
The company also announced that chicken wings will be sold at all Casey’s locations within the next two years after being rolled out in the Iowa market last year. In the Des Moines metro, where wings have been available for more than a year, their sales are up 20% year over year. The expansion will begin in Texas and Florida and east of Iowa in 2027 before reaching Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas in 2028.
Rebelez said the chain aims to add stores through an even mix of new construction and acquisitions. When it comes to buying stores, Casey’s will look first toward small-scale purchases as it aims to acquire what executives have described as a “long tail of small players” who are struggling to remain profitable.
Executives spoke repeatedly Wednesday about their search for another large purchase like the company’s 2024 CEFCO buy but emphasized that such a large acquisition would be difficult to integrate into Casey’s distribution network.
“There are prospects out there that could give us more units in one fell swoop,” Chief Financial Officer Steve Bramlage said. “But we don’t totally control when they come and how it plays out. With acquisitions we can control, we’re just sticking with singles.”
The company exceeded expectations with its last three-year plan, adding more than 500 stores and becoming Iowa’s second company on the prestigious S&P 500 stock index in April, joining Principal Financial Group.
Casey’s stock, which began 2026 at $564.26, was trading at just over $800 late Wednesday afternoon.
Israel Schuman covers retailing and jobs for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ieschuman@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Casey’s eyes Texas expansion by building on small-town legacy
Reporting by Israel Schuman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Israel Schuman, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
