Denny Elwell used to own a pizza house in Ankeny called Denny’s Pizza Lounge. And Donald Lamberti, the co-founder of Casey’s, would stop by a couple times a week to get pizza.
One day, Lamberti called his old friend with an important question as he was navigating the growth of his company, which had about 100 stores at the time. He wanted to know if he should sell pizza in his gas stations.
“And I said, ‘Donny, don’t do that,’” said Elwell, now chairman of the board of the Denny Elwell Company. ‘“I said, ‘Pizza and gasoline does not work.’”…