Casey’s convenience stores expands in Wisconsin

Buys 7 Tri-Par outlets to give it 34 stores in state

Casey’s General Stores, an Iowabased convenience-store and gas station chain looking to expand in Wisconsin, is buying the seven Tri-Par outlets here.

One of the country’s largest convenience-store operators, Casey’s has pushed heavily from Iowa into Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana, but much less so in Wisconsin — home turf to La Crossebased Kwik Trip.

But while publicly traded Casey’s remains a relatively small player here, the company has stepped up its activity recently.

Early this year, Casey’s bought a fivestore chain in southern Wisconsin, according to industry news site CSP. The Tri-Par acquisition will give Casey’s 34 locations in Wisconsin, with another 14 in development, Michael Richardson, vice president of marketing, said by email. That’s still far short of Kwik Trip’s hundreds of Wisconsin stores, but Casey’s has made the state a focus in its expansion efforts. In March 2017, CEO Terry Handley told analysts on a conference call that it views many places in Wisconsin as “Casey’s towns.”

The firm traditionally has located in smaller towns not served by national convenience-store retailers, Casey’s has said in its securities filings. The company has said it can operate effectively in communities with of as few as 400 people.

Casey’s now has 2,097 stores, Richardson said. That’s up more than 300 over the past four years.

Kwik Trip, meanwhile, has added about 200 stores during that period. It operates more than 600 stores.

The Tri-Par stores Casey’s is buying are in Cedarburg, Saukville, West Bend, Slinger, Random Lake, Newburg and Hustisford. Richardson declined to disclose the purchase price.