Who Owns Casey's General Stores?

Donald Lamberti grew up in his family's store on the northeast side of Des Moines, where his father Domenic Lamberti, an Italian immigrant and former coal miner, operated a coal-and-ice delivery business that evolved into a small grocery and gasoline operation. In 1960, at age 20, Lamberti leased the store from his father and began remodeling it into a convenience store format.

In 1965, Lamberti met Kurvin C. Fish, a salesman for Frontier Oil Company who supplied gasoline to the store. Fish persuaded Lamberti to purchase the Square Deal Oil Company, which included service stations in the Ames, Iowa area. The first Casey's store opened in Boone, Iowa, in 1968, after Lamberti and Fish remodeled an existing location. Lamberti loaned Fish the money for his share of the partnership. The store hit its projected annual sales numbers within three months of opening.

The company grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, opening stores across small-town Iowa and neighboring Midwest states. Casey's targeted communities with populations under 20,000, a strategy that differentiated it from urban-focused competitors. Approximately 71% of all Casey's stores continue to operate in towns with fewer than 20,000 residents.

Casey's went public in 1983, listing on NASDAQ under the ticker CASY. The IPO provided capital for accelerated expansion. The company developed its made-from-scratch pizza program, which became a defining feature of the brand. Casey's pizza is prepared daily in store kitchens using dough made on-site, and the chain has grown into one of the largest pizza sellers in the United States by store count.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Casey's expanded beyond Iowa into Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, and other Midwest states. The company built three owned distribution centers to supply its stores, giving it control over its supply chain. Approximately 60% of fuel is delivered through Casey's owned tanker fleet.

In November 2024, Casey's completed the acquisition of Fikes Wholesale and its 198 CEFCO convenience stores, the largest acquisition in company history. The deal expanded Casey's into Texas with 148 additional stores and marked its first entry into Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. The acquisition also included Casey's first fuel terminal, located in Waco, Texas. Casey's announced plans to invest approximately $150 million remodeling CEFCO stores, including adding new kitchens in about 85% of locations.

Casey's shuttered JF Heritage Food Company, a food production facility acquired as part of the Fikes deal, after assessing that its own food program would be integrated into CEFCO stores instead. The company has also operated stores under additional banners including GoodStop (by Casey's), Lone Star Food Store, and Bucky's during transition periods following acquisitions.

For fiscal year 2026 (ended April 30, 2026), Casey's reported total revenue of $17.6 billion, up 10.2% from the prior year. Net income reached $714.4 million, up 30.7%, and EBITDA was nearly $1.5 billion, up 23.6%. The company raised its dividend for the 27th consecutive year.