Casey's to open second store here Thursday

Final preparations are being made for the opening of Holton’s second Casey’s General Store, which is set to open its doors to the public at 5 a.m. Thursday, according to Casey’s district manager Pam McCormack.

“It’ll be better when it’s all ready and pretty,” District Manager Pam McCormack joked on Tuesday as display racks were being set up and new employees were being trained in the new store’s kitchen.

The new, 4,350-square-foot Casey’s will offer a wide variety of foods and services that the “old” Casey’s, located on the northwest corner of Holton’s Town Square, does not offer — and it will be a much roomier store, as store manager Tonya Chancellor noted.

“It’s exciting,” said Chancellor, who has worked for Casey’s since 2001 and has been in management for at least five years. “It’s going to have what we have at the old store, but there’s going to be a lot more.”

At the “old” Casey’s — which has been open in Holton since 1986 and McCormack said there are no plans to close — customers can get pizzas, sandwiches and other hot food items. But at the new store, Chancellor added, there’s going to be more of a choice for customers on the go at any time, night or day, as both stores will be open 24 hours a day.

“We’re going to have made-to-order subs, and we’re going to have a coffee bar,” Chancellor said. “We’re going to have six different kinds of coffee, plus iced coffee, soft serve ice cream and a slush machine.”

In addition to the new sub sandwiches and “wraps,” the new store will offer a “beer cave” where customers can walk in and pick up a 24-pack of their favorite beer. Chancellor said the “beer cave” will also house larger packages of water and soda for those who need them cold.

Motorists whose vehicles require diesel fuel will have the opportunity to fuel up at the new Casey’s, she said. The store on the Square does not currently offer diesel fuel, although both stores offer unleaded gasoline, with or without an ethanol blend, it was reported.

The new store also brings 20 new jobs to the Holton community, with Chancellor noting that only she and another employee are transferring from the store on the Square, where she had served as a manager prior to signing on to manage the new store.

Construction began in late fall on the new Casey’s, which stands at the former site of the Jackson County Fair — to be exact, it occupies land where the fair’s livestock barns once stood. The fair’s old livestock arena remains standing north of the new store, awaiting removal.

Demolition of the livestock barns began a few weeks after the conclusion of the 2014 Jackson County Fair, and a construction crew from Kearney and Son Construction of Valley Falls set to work on building the new store shortly after that. Access to the new store is available from U.S. Highway 75 as well as from a previously existing access to the fairgrounds from Kansas Highway 16.

Chancellor said a grand opening for the new store is planned for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14.