Ag Partners Coop, formerly known as Farm Country Coop, has been a Wanamingo business for 26 years. Combining a farm store with a gas station is something I had never seen before, so I was intrigued. I stopped in to check it out, and found some major changes in the works.
Farm Country coop was originally the owner of the C-Store and Energy Department. Being in an agricultural area, there were many small coops in southern Minnesota and into Wisconsin. In 1996, the consolidation of the Goodhue Elevator and the Farmer's Elevator of Lake City became Ag Partners Coop. As the coop grew, they merged with several other coops, which expanded their customer bases and territories. In 2013, unification with the Farm Country Coop brought the Ag Partners name to the Wanamingo locations. The C-Store has provided several food services, including A&W, Chesters's Chicken, and most recently, Fuel by Area 57. The C-Store also sold fuel, lottery tickets, tobacco products, a small selection of groceries and frozen foods, snacks, sandwiches, coffee, cappuccino, dairy and cold beverages.
Recently, Ag Partners decided to sell the C-Store to Casey's General Store franchise. I was fortunate enough to find the new Casey's store manager, Kathy Petit, hard at work cleaning out old files and such, to make room for the new C-Store. I asked her to explain this decision.
"Ag Partners is parting with their last two C-Stores (Wanamingo and Belle Plaine) to focus their resources and better their services in Agronomy, Grain, Animal Nutrition and the Energy Departments. This will allow Casey's to give the C-Store it's expertise and a fresh start." I asked her what changes we could expect, and she replied, "We will be offering a loyalty program, new shopping choices, and hopefully by May, Casey's food service choices." Yes, this means fresh pizza!
The big C-Store makeover took place April 4th and is now a part of the Casey's franchise. The biggest change outside is the discontinuation of the 91 non-oxy and 110 racing fuel at the pumps, as well as the kerosene. The red dyed off road diesel will remain.
The Ag Partners Energy Department has primarily relocated to Pine Island. The Ag Partners soil center and elevator will remain at their Wanamingo locations.
As the transformation is made, more and more of the building will be incorporated into the new C-Store. This will take some time, to be sure, and we will all have the opportunity to see another new business grow in our community. Welcome, Casey's!
