Dive Brief:
- Casey’s General Stores has agreed to acquire 22 convenience stores under the Lone Star Food Stores banner from fuel and c-store retailer W. Douglass Distributing for an undisclosed amount, a company spokesperson confirmed.
- Casey’s will retain all employees at these stores once the deal closes, which is expected to happen by the end of November, according to an announcement from NRC Realty and Capital Advisors, which is coordinating the sale.
- All 22 stores are located in eastern Texas, and the acquisition will mark Casey’s arrival in the Lone Star State.
Dive Insight:
Texas will mark Casey’s 17th state of operation.
“These stores will serve as a springboard into the great state of Texas for Casey’s, while still located within our self-distribution network,” Darren Rebelez, president and CEO of Casey’s, said in a statement.
The 22 Lone Star Food Store locations are scattered across Sherman, Denison, Princeton, McKinney, Sunnyvale, Allen, Bells, Van Alstyne, Gainesville, Bartonville and Denton, Texas, according to Douglass’ website. Many of these sites are in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Douglass had operated 23 locations prior to the sale; however, there was no indication of what was happening with that final store.
The deal comes about a week after Douglass offloaded its entire wholesale business to fellow fuel distributor Offen Petroleum.
This acquisition marks Casey’s third acquisition of 2023, bringing the number of stores the convenience retailer has purchased this year to 53. Both of its previous acquisitions — 26 EG America-owned Minit Mart stores and the five-location DeliMart c-store chain — occurred in March.
These deals underscore Casey’s current growth strategy, which includes adding 350 more stores to its network by 2026 through a combination of newly built and acquired sites.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s operates more than 2,500 c-stores in 16 states and is the third-largest c-store chain in the U.S. by store count.
