Since the beginning of October, Casey’s General Store No. 3, located at 1018 First Ave. E., has been busy delivering pizzas to hungry customers throughout Newton.
According to Brian Johnson, vice president of finance for Casey’s, the Newton store is just one of 179 stores — out of a total of more than 1,700 — chainwide testing the delivery service.
“We tested it for the first time in Grimes, Iowa, and that was a little over a year ago. We’re only doing it in a select number of stores ... and we plan on doing 50 more in January throughout our territory,” Johnson said. “We’re really just trying to figure out if this is a service that will work for Casey’s, trying to identify what types of communities it might work in and identify what communities it might not work in.”
Currently, Johnson said the bulk of deliveries happen in the evenings between the hours of 4:30 and 10:30 p.m. Delivered items include whole pizza pies and 2-liters of pop. Customers can expect to see a $2 delivery fee added to their bills for opting to use the service.
Although no other Casey’s locations in Newton are scheduled to be equipped for deliveries any time soon, don’t rule out the possibility.
“Do we staff (deliveries) at all stores? Do we staff multiple drivers out of one store? That’s the kind of stuff we’re trying to figure out as we speak,” Johnson said. “We’re certainly excited about it, and making certain we’re giving it a good, honest look.”
Customers interested in purchasing a made-from-scratch pizza may choose from a variety of options, from the basic cheese and pepperoni pizzas to the specialty taco and bacon cheeseburger. View the full menu online at www.caseys.com/menu.html.
“We feel our pizza’s a very high quality product,” Johnson said. “The customer response has been very positive.”
Amy Martens can be contacted at (641) 792-3121 ext. 426 or via email at amartens@newtondailynews.com.