Casey’s convenience stores to take over 26 former MinitMart locations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - If you’ve been inside a local MinitMart lately, you’ve probably noticed some changes.

The stores are now stocked with Casey’s-branded snacks and doughnuts, an indication that it is the early stages of the convenience store’s expansion into the market.

The company purchased 26 local MinitMart locations this spring, building on its dozen or so locations in the area.

Customers have quickly taken notice. Brian Martin was excited about the prospect of the store’s kitchen items.

“Casey’s pizza is the best,” he said. “They’re going to give QuikTrip a run for their money.”

The MinitMart locations don’t currently offer Casey’s pizza. The company said it was focused on immediate operations at those stores as it considered their future plans.

In an email a spokesperson wrote, “We think our offering travels well to new communities and our guests love what Casey’s has to offer.”

Casey’s is the third-largest gas station company in the United States, as well as the fifth-largest pizza chain.

Anecdotally, the brand has been more associated with rural areas. But Tony Tocco, a professor at Rockhurst University, said that has changed as the company has grown.

He compared the company’s move into metropolitan areas to Walmart’s growth in the 1990s.

“Now, the next step is they have enough small towns so they’re in a mode where they’re buying stations that are successful,” Tocco said.

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