A rural stretch of Interstate 10 in Cochise County is about to get a lot busier. Yesway will celebrate the grand opening of its first Allsup's convenience store in Arizona on October 2, a 6,277-square-foot travel plaza at 1151 N. Virginia Avenue in Willcox, complete with 10 fuel dispensers, five diesel lanes and 17 truck parking spaces.
The opening marks Yesway's entry into its 10th operating state, expanding the company's footprint to 453 stores nationwide, according to Morningstar. Yesway Chairman, President and CEO Tom Trkla called the Willcox opening “one of Yesway's most significant milestones” since the company's founding in 2015, and said Arizona represents “a natural extension” of Yesway's existing footprint — with the Willcox store, he added, being “only the beginning” of the company's presence in the state.
Willcox itself is a small agricultural community of roughly 3,255 residents along Interstate 10, halfway between Phoenix and El Paso, according to Cochise Economy. Heavy freight traffic moves between Interstate 10 and Willcox’s industrial area. The Arizona Department of Transportation has studied alternatives for downtown freight traffic. The planned Willcox travel stop includes five diesel fueling lanes and truck parking.
A Company Betting Big on the Sun Belt
The Willcox store is the leading edge of a much larger push. Yesway is targeting Arizona as its highest-growth market, with six to eight new stores planned statewide in 2026 and roughly 26 more targeted for 2027, including an upcoming location in Douglas, per C-Store Dive. The trade publication reports that wave is part of a broader corporate goal to build more than 130 new stores across Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas by 2031.
Yesway has developed and opened more than 90 new-to-industry stores over roughly the past five years, and the Willcox opening follows closely on the heels of the chain's 93rd such build, a similarly sized 24-hour store in Odessa, Texas, which NACS reported had opened in its September 22 report, per the trade group NACS. Yesway planned to transition more than 20 Iowa and Kansas stores by the end of 2026, according to CSP Daily News. The company was established in 2015 and later made Des Moines its headquarters before relocating its corporate headquarters to Fort Worth, Texas, in 2020, the same outlet notes.
Much of that expansion is capital-light by design. Yesway relies on a build-to-suit development model in which third-party real estate developers cover the majority of construction costs while Yesway handles site selection, permitting, design and construction, C-Store Dive reports — a structure that lets the company roll out 6,000-plus-square-foot travel plazas without carrying the full construction debt on its own books.
From Private Equity to the Nasdaq
The Willcox opening also comes as Yesway trades publicly. The company is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker YSWY, according to its own announcement. That listing followed an earlier IPO effort: Yesway filed for a proposed $100 million IPO in September 2021, then paused the effort in December 2022, per CSP Daily News.
The Burrito Behind the Brand
Allsup's, the brand under which the new Willcox store will operate, predates Yesway by decades. It was founded in 1956 in Roswell, New Mexico, by Lonnie and Barbara Allsup, and Yesway acquired the chain in 2019, per PR Newswire. The chain's signature item is a deep-fried burrito.
The Willcox store will carry Allsup's World Famous Burritos alongside private-label snacks, fresh food, grocery items and everyday essentials, according to Morningstar's report on the grand opening. Grand-opening weekend promotions include 25 cents per gallon in fuel savings through the Rewards app, an additional 10 cents per gallon in savings via ValeroPay+ on October 2, a chance for Rewards members to win 52 weeks of beef sticks, a Pepsi 20-ounce beverage and Frito-Lay grab bag bundle for $5, and free candy and giveaways courtesy of Mondelēz.
Allsup's is also participating as a gold sponsor of Rex Allen Days, a Willcox tradition that has brought the community together for 75 years, according to Morningstar. Yesway describes itself as an award-winning convenience store operator known for its foodservice offerings, grocery selection and private-label products, with operations spanning the Midwest and Southwest. For a town of roughly 3,255 people along Interstate 10, the planned Allsup's will mark the start of what Trkla and company are promising will be a much bigger Arizona footprint in the years ahead.
