By Teresa Rivas

If you've already tried a Wawa hoagie and a Casey's pizza, it's time to put a Yesway deep-fried burrito on your list.

While convenience stores are one of the fastest-growing areas of U.S. retail, there aren't many ways for investors to get it on the growth, as some big players like Wawa and Buccee's are privately held. (Though Casey's General Stores, a Barron's pick from December, is already up more than 40% from when we highlighted the stock.

However there's now a new option, as Fort Worth, Texas-based Yesway is now publicly traded. Shares were initially priced at $20, raising more than $280 million, and the company's Chairman and CEO Thomas Trkla, spoke with Barron's after he rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq Wednesday morning.

"There's a dearth of publicly traded convenience stores in the country," he says, discussing Yesway's rationale for its initial public offering. "So now we can become a more rapidly growing company as a public company."

The company, established in 2015, has nearly 450 stores across nine states in the Midwest and Southwest, and like many other growing C-stores, has leaned into its fresh food menu to differentiate itself and win customers. Deep-fried burritos have become its signature item.

Trkla notes that many of Yesway's stores are in more rural locations, where they "are the de facto grocery store. And so in some cases, we're a community center. So it's more than just a transaction to get something and leave."

He says he has noticed a change in consumer behavior in recent weeks given the spike in gas prices: Customers are trading down, going from premium gasoline to cheaper options, and more likely to do smaller fill-ups more frequently.

"They still get the same gallons in a period of time, but because of the sticker shock, they'll come in, they'll fill up maybe 10 gallons instead of 20 gallons and come back," he says. "So our visits are actually up as well."

Overall, Trkla says "there's an increased interest in the investor community in convenience store retailing," and that C-stores are taking share from both quick-service restaurants and grocery stores "because we're providing a service at a value that resonates with customers."

Shares of Yesway were higher on its first day of trading, at $21.85 at recent check.

Write to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2026 15:36 ET (19:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.