SHERMAN, Ill. - Around 150 Casey??s General Stores will never close their doors starting this month, part of a move by the chain to have establishments in smaller locales open 24/7, the State Journal-Register reports. The chain has also begun a pilot program with pizza delivery in a few areas.

Early in 2011, between 70 to 80 Casey??s made the switch, all of which registered a bump in revenue. "We??ve been very successful with this, and the decision was to expand to other locations," said William Walljasper, CFO of Casey??s.

The stores that will convert to 24/7 operations were picked because of their location near busy roads and interstates. With more cars on the road during the overnight hours, some convenience stores are finding boosts in sales by being open all day long, said Jeff Lenard with NACS.

"It??s a combination of gasoline and in-store sales," said Lenard. "Casey??s is among the top four or five in the country in terms of pizza sales."

Casey??s raked in $152 million from prepared food and fountain drink sales, a recent six-month earnings report found. "Casey??s model has always been serving small communities, and now they??re moving to 24 hours and how to extend that into those markets," said Lenard.