Marquette’s new Casey’s store to open Oct. 19

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

The new Casey’s General Store currently under construction in downtown Marquette is slated to open Thursday, Oct. 19, according to Sam James, director of finance with Casey’s General Store.

The store’s grand opening will be held a week later, on Friday, Oct. 27.

“The store will run some specials and do some contests, like giving away free gas to someone for a year,” James said.

Construction on the new store began late last spring, after several long-time homes were torn down to make way. In July, the old store, which Casey’s took over in October 2013, was closed and torn down, leaving the community without a convenience store for the past three months.

The new store is located at 103 First St., directly behind where the old store sat. 

“It’s our latest store design,” James shared.

At 3,400 square feet, it is considerably larger than its predecessor. Space was the driving factor behind the new construction.

“This was a store we hadn’t had for too long, and it’s been a great store,” James said, “but we felt it was under-serving the community.”

Now, said James, the location will be able to offer Casey’s made-from-scratch pizza, as well as made-from-scratch donuts. A sub sandwich bar with a variety of options will also be available.

“The bread will be baked fresh in the store every day,” he remarked.

In addition, the store will have expanded fountain selections, a larger coffee and cappuccino bar and more coolers.

Outside, customers can take advantage of six gas pump islands. There’s also more parking for both customers and employees.

Of the towns Casey’s General Stores are located in, James noted that 57 percent have populations of 5,000 people or fewer. Marquette is among them, and he said Casey’s is happy to continue serving the community.

“We’re small-town-, rural-, Midwest-focused,” he said. “That seems to work great for us.”

Casey’s General Store will be open daily, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.