A real-estate-minded roll-up found its sharpest advantage in a 50-year-old deep-fried burrito. Now Yesway is testing whether local devotion, modern stores and disciplined data can travel together.

After three decades in retail, Ray Harrison still begins with the same question: what will make the next stop easier, friendlier and worth repeating? His route from store director to Yesway's senior team explains why the answer lives in both the data and the aisle.