Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores Inc. rose to No. 57 in the Latest Year ranking of U.S. systemwide sales, from No. 61 the Preceding Year.
The C-Store chain was founded in 1959 by Don Lamberti, who leased a store from his father in Des Moines, Iowa, and nine years later remodeled it into a convenience store. A subsequent store in Boone, Iowa, took the initials of Lamberti’s friend, Kurvin C. Fish, and produced Casey’s. The company now has about 1,880 units, compared with 1,808 in the Preceding Year. All stores are company-owned.
With many of its locations in smaller communities, Casey’s prides itself on its clean stores, restrooms and friendly customer service.
Keys to growth:
Strong food sales. For the fiscal year ended April 30, Casey’s reported a same-store sales increase in prepared food and fountain drinks of 12.4 percent, with an average margin of 59.7 percent. The company had set a goal of increasing its food and fountain sales by 9.5 percent in the Latest Year. The company said that for the fourth quarter, same-store food and fountain sales rose 13.5 percent.
New platforms. Casey’s is preparing a new online pizza ordering system in fiscal 2016. “Same-store sales continue to be favorably impacted by several initiatives, and we are particularly excited about rolling out our online pizza ordering system during fiscal 2016,” Robert J. Myers, Casey’s president and CEO, said June 8 in an earnings release.
Firm sales goals. Casey’s said it plans to further increase same-store prepared food and fountain sales during this fiscal year. While its 2016 goals for same-store fuel gallons sold are 2 percent, the increases in same-store food and fountain are 10.4 percent.
Unit expansion. Casey’s plans to build or acquire between 75 and 113 stores this year, replace 10 existing locations, and to complete 100 major remodels, the company said. “The company believes it is important to grow the business through new and acquired stores, while at the same time enhancing the performance of our existing store base,” Myers said in a statement.
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