Casey's Plans $35 Million Ankeny Headquarters Expansion

ANKENY, IA — Casey's General Stores will expand its Ankeny headquarters with a $35 million expansion this year, the company told The Des Moines Register. Casey's is the fourth largest convenience store chain in the nation.

The Ankeny offices employ nearly 900 people and could add 80 office positions over the next five years. The company has been leasing space for some of its office workers, the Register said, and the expansion will put all office employees at one site.

Casey's recently purchased a warehouse north of its headquarters and demolished that building to make room for the expansion. Construction should begin this summer, with completion expected by early 2019, the Register said.

the company will seek state and city tax credits for the project, the Register reported.

CSP Magazine, an industry publication, ranks Casey's fourth largest in the nation among convenience stores, behind 7-Eleven, which has 8,300 stores, Alimentation Couche-Tard (Circle K) with 7,200 and Speedway (A Marathon Petroleum division) with nearly 2,800.

Is A Casey's Sale Likely?

A group of shareholders claiming Casey's General Store shares are undervalued urged a sale of the chain in a letter dated Jan. 3, CSP Magazine reported.

James C. Pappas of Houston, who wrote the letter, urged the board to “immediately engage a financial adviser to explore all strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, merger or similar transaction in order to maximize shareholder value," the magazine reported Wednesday.

Both 7-Eleven and Alimentation Couche-Tard have previously attempted takeovers.

Pappas represents a collective of shareholders who own about $45 million worth of Casey's common stock, CSP reported. The letter says Casey's has under-performed industry leaders and has expanded too rapidly, while missing earnings targets for seven consecutive quarters "due in part to decelerating same-store sales and bloated operational expenses.”

“We are concerned that Casey's store-level returns on invested capital have declined as the company has gone from operating in nine states to 15 states,” it said. “We believe such rapid expansion coupled with seeming declining returns on invested capital is symptomatic of a company that has been unable to manage growth effectively.”

Casey’s opened its second distribution center, in Terre Haute, Ind., in early 2016. A third facility is planned.

Casey's opened a new store in Crystal Lake, Ill., in February 2017./Photo courtesy of Casey's General Stores