Yesway just added a slew of stores to sell its private brands

Convenience store chain Yesway, which has been rapidly expanding its Yesway line of private brands, just added a slew of stores to sell them. The Des Moines, Iowa-based chain announced this week it has completed its acquisition of Allsup’s Convenience Stores, a 304-store regional chain based in Clovis, N.M.

Yesway, which began four years ago, is one of the fastest-growing convenience store retailers in the U.S. With the acquisition, Yesway now has 421 stores in Iowa, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Tom Trkla, chairman and CEO of Yesway, called Allsup’s “one of the most iconic and adored convenience store chains in the country.” Allsup’s was started by Barbara and Mark Allsup more than 63 years ago.

“We take this responsibility very seriously and pledge to all of Allsup’s loyal customers that what makes Allsup’s so unique and special will not change,” Trkla said. “We look forward to serving our terrific customers, to continuing to offer the world-famous Allsup’s burrito, and to building on Allsup’s legendary tradition by adding new and exciting products and customer benefits in the months and years to come.”

Mark Allsup will serve as president of the combined companies. Several other key Allsup’s executives and department managers will have senior roles in the company.

“From our founding over 60 years ago to today, Allsup’s has had a rich history of caring about our employees, our customers, our service providers, and the communities in which we work and live,” Mark Allsup said. “With Yesway as the new steward of the Allsup’s legacy, we know that our values and our commitment to maintaining a hard-working, caring, and loyal culture will not change as we move forward.”

Earlier this year, Derek Gaskins, Yesway’s senior vice president of merchandising and procurement, said he wants the chain to be the ALDI or Lidl of the convenience store channel when it comes to private brands.

“We want to be one of the innovative retailers,” said Gaskins, who spoke April 8 at the Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing’s (ECRM) second-annual Store Brands Leadership Summit in Las Vegas. “Why can’t we be the Lidl or Aldi of the convenience channel? It’s an aspiration that we are treating very seriously.”

Gaskins, aware that ALDI and Lidl both offer more than a 90% assortment of private brands, said Yesway wants to make private brands a staple of its success.

Yesway launched its first private-branded products, under the Yesway brand, in the summer of 2018.