Nearly 40 years after entering into its first franchise agreement, Casey’s General Stores Inc. closed that chapter of the company’s history. As of this year, Casey’s is 100 percent corporately owned—a move the Midwest convenience retailer said will bring greater consistency across its network of 1,470 stores.
“With franchising, you had dual operating models: an employee/employer relationship and an independent contractor relationship. A customer does not differentiate between the two and thus, with a dual operating model, you run the risk of losing consistency from your corporate stores to your franchise stores,” Bill Walljasper, the company’s chief financial officer, told CSNews Online in a recent interview.
Casey’s began franchising in the early 1970s as a way to expand its store base and gain critical mass, at a time when the company did not have the capital to grow. Eventually, this led to increased buying efficiency and ultimately, self-distribution, Walljasper said, noting franchising typically has a higher return due to the lower investment cost. More.