Casey's, Parker's and Yesway Push Expansion Into New Markets

Casey's General Stores could cross the 3,000-store threshold as two pending acquisitions add 44 locations in Texas and Oklahoma to its footprint.

The company reported 2,959 stores in its fiscal Q1 earnings release earlier this month. If both recent deals close — 24 locations from Pak-A-Sak and 20 sites from ASAP Energy, announced within the past two months — the chain would push past 3,000 stores before counting its continuing new-to-industry unit growth.

Casey's is not alone in plotting growth. Yesway and Parker's Kitchen both set timelines this week for their long-awaited debuts in new states, part of a broader wave of convenience retailers expanding into new and existing markets this year.

Parker's plans to open its first Florida location in Yulee — about 25 miles north of downtown Jacksonville — in late October, the company announced earlier this week. The retailer's expansion into the Jacksonville area has been underway for years.

That store will be the first of at least 12 sites Parker's plans to operate in Florida by the end of 2027, the company said. Its existing footprint includes over 100 stores in Georgia and South Carolina.

Yesway plans to open its first Arizona store on Oct. 2, the company shared on Thursday. The site — an Allsup's in Willcox, about 85 miles east of Tucson — is the first of two locations the retailer lists in the Grand Canyon State on its website.

Once the Willcox store opens, Yesway will operate 453 stores across its two banners. The company said on its Q1 earnings call that it expects to open 26 stores next year across its footprint.

Yesway currently operates in 10 states, but its new-store development strategy concentrates on four: Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. That focus suggests more Yesway openings in Arizona are likely in the coming years, and marketers tracking regional c-store growth will have new trade areas to work with in Jacksonville and southern Arizona by the end of October.