From humble beginnings 58 years ago to a regular highway staple in many communities across the Midwest, the first ever Casey’s General Store to arrive in the state of Michigan is slated to be built in the community of Watervliet.
Watervliet Township authorities have given the green light to site plans submitted for a nearly four acre parcel along M-140 just off of I-94, with plans for a new gasoline service station and convenience store next door to Mill Creek Charlie’s restaurant.
Casey’s General Stores dot the highway landscape throughout the Midwest after founder Don Lamberti leased a store from his father in Des Moines, Iowa back in 1959. He operated that old country store for some nine years after remodeling it into a convenience store. He later bought out the Square Deal Oil Company on advice from his gas vendor, and bought a service station with a three-bay garage in Boone, Iowa. Banking on the intelligence gathered from his first operation in Des Moines, Lamberti converted those three bays into a convenience store and called it Casey’s.
A third store was built in a small community of just 1,500 people, Waukee, Iowa, the first Casey’s to be built entirely from the ground up and it became the most popular by far. Realizing that he was on to something, Lamberti set out to find other communities of less than 5,000 people to establish more stores.
It didn’t take long for Casey’s reputation of clean stores, clean restrooms and friendly clerks who pride themselves in customer service to capture increasingly larger crowds and now, with nearly 2,000 locations, Casey’s General Stores are a part of the landscape in mid-America.
The new Casey’s of Watervliet will be erected at the corner of M-140 and Arnt Boulevard, which is the street that goes to the Fairfield Inn & Suites and Surfari Joe’s. The site plan shows an entrance to the station from M-140, however travelers will exit onto Arnt Boulevard when departing the property. The address for the new general store will be 3781 M-140 in Watervliet. There will still be land available between Mill Creek Charlie’s and the new Casey’s General Store, as the developers are only buying half of the space that’s available there.
The Casey’s General Store corporate website says, “From the beginning, Casey’s mission has always been to provide quality products at competitive prices with courteous service in clean stores at convenient locations.” That’s what you can look forward to in the near future with the impending arrival of the new convenience store just off of I-94 at the Watervliet exit.
Company officials are eager to get the place up and running, but have not provided a specific timetable for the planned construction.
