Buc-ee's

Buc-ee's

Type	Private
Industry	Retail (Convenience store)
Founded	1982
Founder	Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek
Headquarters	Lake Jackson, Texas, U.S.
Number of locations	37
Products	Fuel, coffee, beverages, beef jerky, snacks, car wash, prepared foods, and specialty gifts
Website	www.buc-ees.com

Buc-ee's is a chain of convenience stores located in the Central, Gulf Coast, and North Coast region of Texas. The company is owned by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek and has its headquarters in Lake Jackson, Texas.^[1] The chain is famously known for its logo depicting a beaver.

History

Business partners "Beaver" Aplin and Don Wasek opened their first store, which is still open as of 2016, in Lake Jackson, Texas in 1982 . Aplin formed the name Buc-ee's by combining his nickname and the name of his Labrador Retriever.

Buc-ee's expanded and opened their first Family center in Luling, Texas in 2003. Buc-ee's are large stores (no 18 wheelers allowed) with fueling areas that range from 80-120 fueling positions for gas and diesel and a huge selection of beef jerky, pastries, fresh sandwiches, tacos, Dippin' Dots and homemade fudge.

In 2012, Buc-ee's opened its largest Family center in New Braunfels, Texas on Interstate 35. The New Braunfels gas center is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet. The store features 120 fueling positions, 83 toilets, 31 cash registers, 4 Icee machines, and 80 fountain dispensers. It also offers tubing and water gear for enjoying the nearby Guadalupe River.

The New Braunfels, Texas store was named the 2012 "Best Restroom in America" by Cintas.^[2]

The first Buc-ee's in north Texas opened in Terrell, Texas on June 22, 2015.

The first Buc-ee's in the Dallas/Fort Worth area opened on May 23, 2016. The location is located in far northern Fort Worth, across the street from Texas Motor Speedway.^[3] The second DFW location is scheduled to open in Denton in 2018.

On March 8th, 2016, Buc-ee's announced a possible first location outside of the state of Texas would be located in Baton Rouge, LA. The location was expected to open in early 2017, however, on October 4, 2016, Buc-ee's announced that the plans for the Baton Rouge location had been terminated.

Buc-ee's in Terrell, Texas

Products

Buc-ee's offers products found at most convenience stores such as fuel, cigarettes, tobacco, chips, drinks, and soft drinks at their smaller neighborhood stores. Travel centers include a deli, coffee shop, exterior tunnel car washes, Texas-themed specialty gifts and food, and products catering to hunters and river rafters. All Buc-ee's are open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Buc-ee's offers private labeled beef jerky, novelty candy, trail mixes, granola, pralines, jarred vegetables, preserves, and salsa. Their #1 branded product is caramel and butter-glazed corn puffs known as 'Beaver Nuggets.'

Advertising

Buc-ee's is known for posting billboards by Texas interstate highways with simple and humorous slogans.

• "If It Harms Beavers, We're Against It!"
• "Clean Restrooms, We Guarantee It"
• "It's A Beaver!"
• "Restrooms So Clean, We Leave Mints on the Urinals"
• "Ice, Beer, Jerky: The 3 Food Groups"
• "The Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee's: #1 and #2"
• "A Bigger Kolache I Never Sausage a Thing"
• "Don't worry, P happy"
• "Epic Flush"
• "Don't stay thirsty my friends."
• "Worth the Wait"
• "The Eyes of Buc-ee's Are Upon You"
• "Buy a gift, leave a gift."
• "Don't pass our gas!"

References

External links

• Company website
• Buc-ee's Facebook page
• Buc-ee's in New Braunfels vying for best restrooms in America, KHOU.com, September 2, 2012.
• Miguel Bustillo, Roadside Stopper: Can Something Be Too Big in Texas?, Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2012.