It's as familiar to Iowans as corn in the fields. Since 1968, the red and yellow, barn-shaped emblem has beckoned to them from streets and highways, emblazoned with the name "Casey's General Store" in a nostalgic font that would have looked right at home in a frontier ranch town.
Soon, that trusty landmark truly will be relegated to the past. The Ankeny-based convenience store and gas station chain unveiled a new, modernized logo Thursday, saying Casey's has changed, and it's time for its branding to change, too.
“For 50 years, the Casey’s brand looked basically the same, from a logo and identity standpoint," Chief Marketing Officer Chris Jones told the Des Moines Register. "Since then, we’ve made a lot of changes to our guest experience."
The new logo simplifies the design, removing the bright yellow and brown to create a plain, red silhouette of a barn, complete with weathervane. "Casey's" appears in a font Jones described as "more approachable, more contemporary (and) more streamlined" than the previous Western serif. And the words "General Store" are gone.
Jones said the decision to remove General Store from the logo was the result of study and deliberation. Customers in focus groups weren't sure what a general store was in 2020 — instead, they thought of Casey's as a convenience store, gas station and pizzeria (it's ranked among the biggest-selling pizza chains in the country).
“They think of us on more of a first-name basis," Jones said. "They know us as Casey’s."
Since the first branded Casey's store opened in Boone 52 years ago, the company has expanded to become the fourth-largest convenience store operator in the nation. In the last two years, Casey's has launched a smart phone app and online rewards program, as well as curbside and delivery options.
The new logo is meant not only to reflect the changes to Casey's offerings, but also to work better with those modern options.
“When you put (the old logo) in the digital space, it kind of looked like it was a pixelated Atari game in today’s Xbox world,” Jones explained.
The rollout of the logo will start with the company's app and website, as well as a new Ankeny store at 1024 E. First St. at the corner of S.E. Delaware Avenue. The store opened at 5 a.m. Thursday with the removal of coverings that had hidden the new signage.
The interior of the Ankeny store largely is the same as at other up-to-date Casey's locations. The company plans to focus future in-store development on expanding dispensed beverage options — things like self-serve coffee and teas — and launching more store-branded products in containers featuring the new logo.
"You’ll see us getting into carbonated soft drinks, juices and teas, cookies, snack mix, salty snacks in the coming months," Jones said.
It will be a multi-year process to update signage and logos at the other 2,200 Casey's locations, Jones said. They extend from Tennessee to North Dakota, and the company declined to say how much it anticipates spending on the project.
Casey's has 55 stores open in the Des Moines metro and more in development, including one under construction at 3200 S.W. Ninth St. on the south side of Des Moines.
No longer a 'General Store,' Casey's redesigns its logo for the first time in over 50 years
Customers in focus groups weren't sure what a general store was in 2020, and the more contemporary font will work better online, the company says.
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