Iowa History Daily: On November 3, 2003, Kurvin C. “KC” Fish, co-founder of popular Iowa-based Casey’s General Store, died. Perhaps the most consistently recognizable Iowa business, the chain grew from a single store to over 2,400 stores spread across sixteen states.
In 1959, Fish convinced his friend Donald Lamberti to purchase the Square Deal Oil Company station in Boone. After remodeling his new business into a convenience store, Lamberti renamed the business after his friend K.C. Lamberti’s “Casey’s General Store” proved a success and he soon opened a second store in Creston.
Other Casey’s locations soon followed, including one in the small town of Waukee (population 1,500 at the time), and Lamberti knew he had a successful business enterprise brewing. By the 1970s, Casey’s boasted 118 locations. In 1983, Lamberti took the company public and the store introduced donuts. But it wasn’t until the following year, when the store in Corning, Iowa, debuted pizza, Casey’s truly became an iconic Iowa institution.
Branching out from traditional pizzas with the introduction of the fan-favorite taco, Iowans quickly became consumed with picking up a pizza alongside a tank of gas. Today, Casey’s serves up breakfast pizza, doughnuts and gas at locations in most Iowa towns. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
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