Several Casey’s Spinoff Convenience Stores are Opening in Iowa

I'm endlessly fascinated by the constantly evolving fast food and convenience store industries. Last year, at least in Iowa, one of the most popular stories in regards to the latter was the disappearance of Kum & Go stores across the state. The stores were being rebranded to reflect the name of their new parent company, Maverik.

Now, the ubiquitous chain Casey's might be making headlines throughout 2026 with a steadily growing spinoff chain billed as a "no-frills, fuel-first store" where customers can also obtain snacks, drinks, and essentials. However, there's one important distinction from this chain than your average Casey's.

READ MORE: McDonald's is Ending its Spinoff Chain, CosMc's, Including Illinois Location

What is "Goodstop by Casey's?:"

If you've traversed the state of Iowa over the last couple months, perhaps you've passed a new convenience store boasting a familiar red and white logo. It's not a Casey's. It's "Goodstop by Casey's," a new chain of stores owned and operated by Casey's General Stores.

Per an article from The Des Moines Register, these stores are essentially Casey's on a smaller scale. They lack the full pizza/kitchen setup that is common place in even the oldest Casey's locations around Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Casey's spokesperson gave The Des Moines Register a baseline description of the stores:

The Goodstop brand provides us flexibility in our store portfolio to own and operate stores that do not include the full prepared food and dispensed beverage offering of a Casey’s - Casey's spokesperson Katie Petru, per The Des Moines Register

Where are Goodstop Stores Located?:

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As of this writing, there are several Goodstop locations across Iowa, including in De Soto, Eldora, and Grimes, the former two existing in former Kum & Go locations. Casey's launched Goodstop back in May 2021 after their acquisition of 92 Bucky's convenience stores — not the same chain as the often viral Buc-ee's — in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Texas, per The Des Moines Register.

The stores were launched as "a flexible solution" for smaller stores that were in areas deemed insufficient or "not the right fit" for the company's signature pizza and food service program:

[Goodstop] gives [Casey's] flexibility in small markets, rural spots, or locations where a full Casey’s is not needed or would not perform as well - Convenience store analyst Sujeet Naik, per The Des Moines Register

READ MORE: Convenience Store Chain in Illinois Could Get a "Japanese-Style" Makeover

I suppose the idea is that Goodstop can offer a speedier experience than the average Casey's. As someone who always seems to be bopping in one Casey's or another, be it for pizza, a beverage, alcohol, etc, you're likely to see at least one person, or more, waiting around for their pizza or other prepared food to be served.

Then there's the obvious factor that Casey's, as a corporation, looked at the stores with poorly performing food service kitchens but still acknowledged gasoline and "grab-and-go" food item sales were high. Couple that with the necessity of there being financial benefit to install costly industrial kitchen equipment, when some markets wouldn't justify the demand, and thus, Goodstop was born.

At present, there are 68 Goodstop stores among Casey's 2,921 locations. That accounts for 2.3% of their store volume. Read more about Casey's relatively new spinoff store on The Des Moines Register's website.