Recently, the quality of Casey’s General Stores locations was brought up on this board. I have never been to a Casey’s and don’t live within a thousand miles of one, so I have no personal experiences with Casey’s to rely upon. Investing in a bunch of dirty, run-down convenience stores didn’t appeal to me much though, so I decided to try to research the topic.
Here is a link to a 2014 survey conducted by customer intelligence firm Market Force Information. The study was designed to find which convenience store customers prefer and why. More than 80 different convenience store chains were included in the survey. Those participating in the study were asked to rank different convenience stores they frequented on a variety of measures including cleanliness, customer service, prices, and food quality and selection.
Overall, Quik Trip finished first with Wawa finishing a close second. Casey’s finished sixth overall.
Breaking down the different categories, Casey’s finished in the top five in several including:
1st in convenient location
2nd in high quality food
3rd in friendly service
4th in clean interior/exterior
4th in food selection
5th in clean restrooms
5th in inviting atmosphere
Again, that was out of more than 80 different convenience stores. With hundreds of locations, there are bound to be a few bad apples in the bunch, but it doesn’t seem as if quality control is too much of an issue here. Their strategy to position themselves in small rural areas and their attention to food seem especially to stand out and be appreciated by their customers. Their cleanliness scores also seem to be above average for convenience stores.
QuickTrip (or QT as we call it) is unmistakably different from Kwik Trip. QT has the best units (cleanliness, selection, quality, gas price, that I’ve been to. It doesn’t surprise me to see them highly-rated. When we travel, we always hope to find a QT for our breaks.
Quick Trip is privately held and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Having lived in the Tulsa area for decades I have watched this company expand across the Midwest, from a 1 billion dollar operation back in the late 80’s to 11 or 12 billion today. I have waited anxiously for an IPO, but no luck there. We all know how picky a teenager can be when it comes to fads etc. When my girls were teenagers they would never buy gas anywhere except Quick Trip and that loyalty has carried over now that they are in their 40’s. I always found it fascinating that people would become loyal to a gas station. I mean a sports team, ok, but a GAS station. But Quick Trip has that kind of following I run into people all the time that won’t buy their gas anywhere but Quick Trip unless it is an emergency. As I have posted before concerning Casey’s. I had this part time job driving all over Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Quick Trip, Kum & Go and Casey’s were the three big operators, with Quick Trip and Kum & Go usually located in larger areas and Casey’s in smaller towns. I always made it a point to stop at one of these three to fuel up, because they were invariably clean, well maintained, and friendly.
Casey’s is usually a much smaller operation. But, again, clearly the trend is for larger and larger stores, which should be good for Casey’s.
Mike
QT stores are usually in larger cities/along the interestate
Casey stores are all over many states. I’ve passed by hundreds and stopped at dozens. Nice stores, well stocked, clean, with a good selection of ‘hot food’ and beverages. Usually have decent price gas. Often the only store in rural towns.
Much better than a 7-11 but they are in different states.
Here in TX, in most hick towns, we get AllSups…and you can skip most of the, except they are usually the only convenience store in town. All over TX in the boonies.
not a Casey store I can recall in TX. Got to go north and in the midwest to find them.
QT stores are nice if you can find one. We got one here in Plano TX. Stopped at one up in OK many times. Usually off a major highway.