Dive Brief:

• Convenience retailer Casey’s General Stores has acquired the five-location DeliMart c-store chain in Iowa City, Iowa, for an undisclosed amount, a spokesperson for Casey’s said in an email to C-Store Dive.
• Casey’s will be offering the employees from the acquired DeliMart locations a role with the Ankeny, Iowa-based retailer, the spokesperson said.
• Casey’s latest acquisition comes just a couple of weeks after President and CEO Darren Rebelez said the company had “stayed busy evaluating potential deals both large and small” and was “looking at a number of deals” to grow its footprint this year.

Dive Insight:

With about 15 stores already in the greater Iowa City area, according to Casey’s website, the acquisition will boost the retailer’s store count in the region to 20 locations. Four of the acquired DeliMart locations are in Iowa City, with a fifth in Coralville, about three miles south of downtown Iowa City.

The deal moves Casey’s closer towards its goal of opening 80 new locations by the end of fiscal 2023, a goal which Rebelez announced in December 2022. About 40 of those stores will be new builds, while the remaining half will come from acquisitions Casey’s has in the pipeline, Rebelez said.

DeliMart was founded in 1985 by brothers John and Frank Moreland with a single store on Highway 1 in Iowa City. The brand opened a second store in 1988, and a few years later, had grown to six stores and a car wash, according to a report from The Cedar Rapids Gazette, which first reported the news. The sixth location was sold shortly after, and Frank Moreland bought the stores from his brother in 2005.

Casey’s operates more than 2,400 c-stores in 16 states and is the third-largest c-store chain in the U.S by store count.