Darren Rebelez hasn’t beat around the bush regarding his intentions for CEFCO, the 198-location c-store chain Casey’s General Stores acquired for over $1 billion last year.
Just days after the announcement, Casey’s chairman, president and CEO said the company will spend roughly $150 million rebranding nearly all CEFCO locations to its own banner and remodeling the locations to fit Casey’s mold, notably by adding new kitchens.
This integration process would take about three to four years to complete, Rebelez and his executive team said at the time. As of June 2025, aside from a few test sites, Casey’s hasn’t started any rebrands or remodels despite closing the deal with CEFCO seven months ago, Rebelez said during Casey’s earnings call earlier this month.
That’s by design, as Casey’s has spent the past several months evaluating CEFCO’s food program and how adding Casey’s flagship pizza and prepared foods mixes with it, Rebelez said.
“We're in the process of assessing that,” he said. “Once we have that, then we'll be in a position to develop the full scope of work for that remodel activity.”
Proof-of-concept stores
Casey’s was well aware before the acquisition that CEFCO’s foodservice program resonated with its guests, Rebelez said during a press conference earlier this month.
Rebelez added that when the deal was made, he wanted to give CEFCO and its team members “the recognition that they're due.” This meant taking the time — in this case, several months — to evaluate CEFCO’s offerings to make sure Casey’s isn’t throwing out anything that consumers enjoy.
“We’ve been deliberate in terms of understanding what the guest needs are in Texas and Florida, what they liked about the CEFCO offer, maybe what they weren't as satisfied with, and how they feel about the Casey's proposition and how those two things can come together,” he said.
Casey’s has tested this through three “proof-of-concept” c-stores it assembled shortly after the acquisition closed. These locations feature both brands’ foodservice programs and aim to help Casey’s leadership understand how these offerings perform together. Their findings will then be applied to the rest of CEFCO’s stores.
Fast forward about six months, and Casey’s is “closer to the end of that assessment period,” Rebelez said during this month’s press conference.
“We had a hypothesis going in of what that would look like,” Rebelez said of the test stores. “In most cases, we were pretty correct. In some cases, we needed to shift and adjust.”
The Iowa retailer has learned that CEFCO’s chicken program is a fan favorite — notably its chicken tenders, which it also uses in sandwiches, Rebelez said. Additionally, Casey’s learned that CEFCO’s tacos and burritos are strong performers, and it plans to keep those on the permanent menu as well.
Casey’s has used its own bakery program in the test stores as well as its pizza program, “which has been really well received” in CEFCO’s markets, Rebelez added.
“We've made some other adjustments around the edges, but I’d say those are the big ones, and the prepared food business in those stores has been exceptional,” he said. “So we really think we've got it dialed in.”
But even once it outlines the scope of CEFCO’s rebrands and remodels, Casey’s first has to go through the permitting process for each store, which will likely take nine to 12 months, Rebelez said during the earnings call.
He added that Casey’s likely won’t have any remodels done within the next fiscal year, and that “the bulk of the remodeling activity” will be in fiscal 2027.
“We do a lot of acquisitions, so we know how long this typically takes, and so that's where the timeline is coming from.”
