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What is so surprising to me is that people not-from-Texas or the South are so surprised by Buc-ees success.

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The locals in our area (Knoxville) love Buc-ee's. If there's one thing that blows them away is the number of
Buc-ee's (36) in Texas.

And for the record, I love Buc-ee's.

No boos from me as we all have our preferences. I'll stop at a Buc'ees anytime over all other convenience stores as I never have to wait for a gas pump or at the register and the pisser is clean and orderly. I always plan a stop there on certain routes (in Bastrop heading to and from College Station) as it times perfectly for me.

torrid said:

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doubledog said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Bec-ees

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that the new name after transitioning?

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Watch out Buc-ees is very litigious when in comes to their branding.

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At one point there was a "Bucky's" on NASA Road One in Webster. I think it is an actual convenience store chain in an area where the beaver doesn't operate, at least for now. For some reason the location changed names.

edit - From a few years ago, but I think we know who won.

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/its-buc-ees-v-buckys-in-convenience-store-battle/

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There were a bunch of them in Omaha when I was living there.

BusterAg said:

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I used to hit the original Buc-ees in Lake Jackson on my way to off-shore fishing trips out of Freeport in the mid-aughts. They were the only gas station that had breakfast tacos at 4:00am, about the time I was motoring through sleepy-town Lake Jackson. Because of that, I have followed Buc-ees rise to dominance with satisfaction and super-glee.

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In the mid-80s, I worked in Clute but lived an hour away, so I would always stop at the original Buc-ees for what we used to call a "road pop" on my way home. Or maybe two road pops.

Open containers weren't illegal then, IIRC. And there was rarely any traffic on 288 heading into Houston so as long as you didn't drive too fast through Iowa Colony, there was never an issue.

When Buc-ees got big, I was just amazed. As Cinco Ranch Aggie said earlier, it was just a hole-in-the-wall C-store at the time.

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as long as you didn't drive too fast through Iowa Colony

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I was never so happy to see that corrupt police department shut down.

AnScAggie said:

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Jack Squat 83 said:

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Until a few years ago they had a small one in Gonzales that was awesome with a small breakfast taco station and of course the receipts actually printed at the pumps. Restrooms, immaculate.

Stripes bought it, and it was instantly trashed, inside and out. So dumb and lazy. I guess Stripes is successful enough, but for gosh sakes bust out a broom, mop and pressure washer every now and then.

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I can't understand the Stripes business model but apparently it's to have your store look completely worn out inside and out almost immediately after they take over ownership. Somehow though they are expanding across the state.

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It's the Corpus business model

Aplin has said he followed principles outlined in the book Good to Great with Buc-ee's.

Anonymous Source said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Just go ahead and boo me.

I got nothing against Buc-ees. I just don't want to walk a quarter mile to hit the head and have no need for a convenience store the size of a Walmart. And getting fuel there is on par with the gas pumps at a Costco.

So yeah, go ahead and boo me.

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Buc-ee's on a weekend...and especially a holiday weekend...is a rookie move.

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We were in and out of the one in Luling friday afternoon of labor day weekend when everyone and their mother was out on the roads. Wasn't bad at all. But it looks so busy I see how it could scare people away.

LMCane said:

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they don't have Bucees in the mid atlantic

do they have them in Florida?

up here are some Sheetz and WAWA which are decent

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Wawa

When I'd have to travel to FL, I looked for them while on the road.

I officiated football all over Texas in the late 80s, early 90s and it was always difficult to find a bathroom on the road that wasn't just completely filthy. Arch Alpin figured that out and realized there was a way to differentiate his stores. From that point forward, everything there was about differentiation.

Thread title correction - BOO! BOO!

doubledog said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Bec-ees

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that the new name after transitioning?

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Watch out Buc-ees is very litigious when in comes to their branding.

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I have not darkened their doors since I saw what they did to Parador.

Urban Ag said:

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Just go ahead and boo me.

I got nothing against Buc-ees. I just don't want to walk a quarter mile to hit the head and have no need for a convenience store the size of a Walmart. And getting fuel there is on par with the gas pumps at a Costco.

So yeah, go ahead and boo me.

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LMCane said:

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they don't have Bucees in the mid atlantic

do they have them in Florida?

up here are some Sheetz and WAWA which are decent

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Already in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and SC. And Florida. Already one under construction in NC, despite being on sacred tribal ground. There is some tribe I'd never heard of before that seems able to find sacred tribal ground all over the state.

Urban Ag said:

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AnScAggie said:

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Jack Squat 83 said:

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Until a few years ago they had a small one in Gonzales that was awesome with a small breakfast taco station and of course the receipts actually printed at the pumps. Restrooms, immaculate.

Stripes bought it, and it was instantly trashed, inside and out. So dumb and lazy. I guess Stripes is successful enough, but for gosh sakes bust out a broom, mop and pressure washer every now and then.

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I can't understand the Stripes business model but apparently it's to have your store look completely worn out inside and out almost immediately after they take over ownership. Somehow though they are expanding across the state.

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It's the Corpus business model

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Stick a Laredo Taco Shop in it and it's not a bad place to stop...for the food.

Earlier this year I was driving back from LA. In the middle of the desert on I-40 in Southern California is a Buccees billboard that says just 830 miles to go…

techno-ag said:

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Aplin has said he followed principles outlined in the book Good to Great with Buc-ee's.

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That's cool.

This book was emphasized in the marketing curriculum when I was a Mays MBA.

LTC is a pretty good food option but only at the high turnover locations.

But before I ever visited a Buc-cees I was sold on the cheap ice my buddies from Houston bragged about on their trips south.

torrid said:

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LMCane said:

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they don't have Bucees in the mid atlantic

do they have them in Florida?

up here are some Sheetz and WAWA which are decent

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Already in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and SC. And Florida. Already one under construction in NC, despite being on sacred tribal ground. There is some tribe I'd never heard of before that seems able to find sacred tribal ground all over the state.

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One just opened this summer in south Georgia near Jekyll Island

The folks in Palmer lake CO are all spun up about the possibility of one opening up on county line road at the Palmer divide. Bunch of NIMBYs over there. I'm hoping it goes through as that's right where I hop onto I-25 when I'm headed up to Denver.
Would be nice to have a stop for some solid authentic jalapeno sausage and cheese kolaches up here.

Praskek's and Woody's are restaurants/meat markets that sell gas. Prasek's for sure. They aren't in the same category as Bucees, outside of the fact that they sell gas an food.

Beaver changed the entire concept of what a gas station is when you think about it. Started with the restrooms and pumps being clean but has moved way past that. Aside from #1, the Oyster Creek/Surfside store and the one in Port Lavaca, I can't think of a single Bucees that isn't extremely well lit on the interior and that doesn't have wide isles and a lot of open space that keeps people from constantly being shoulder to shoulder.

If you look at just about every single new gas station that is built, especially along the gulf coast, they all follow the same model that Beaver created - clean crappers, clean pumps, good lighting and a lot of room to move around inside the store.

I also like that he doesn't sell lotto tickets. Few things are more rage inducing than the 300lb woman in front of me taking 15 damned minutes to pick out which scratch off tickets she wants to buy while giving zero F's about anything outside of the sweaty bubble of fat she lives in.

Bucees food is meh - frankly it's gone downhill over the last ~5 years as the company has gotten bigger. But it's also - wait for it - a gas station. I don't walk into a gas station expecting Texas Monthly Top 50 brisket or sandwiches. They are more expensive than Whataburger or McDonald's, but not by much, and are definitely better IMO. Plus it's one less stop to make.

At some point at the bigger stores he's going to have to hire gas pump traffic control because people are generally selfish buttholes and the whole "park at the pump, go shop, then come out and fill up" should be punishable by repeated kicks to the junk in the parking lot in front of everybody.

schmellba99 said:

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At some point at the bigger stores he's going to have to hire gas pump traffic control because people are generally selfish buttholes and the whole "park at the pump, go shop, then come out and fill up" should be punishable by repeated kicks to the junk in the parking lot in front of everybody.

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They can poach some of the gendarmes at Costco.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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I grew up in Lake Jackson, was in high school when the first location opened, but it was nothing more than another gas station at the time. While I know that the name has been explained, I will never believe that the name did not originate at least in part from the founder's high school mascot, Brazoswood's Buccaneers.

My kid likes the big bags of gummies they sell there, so I typically go in there to grab a few bags to stuff in her Christmas stocking. It is a rare thing for me to stop there for gas. Like someone else said, it's like Costco on steroids. Occasionally will stop at the 290 location on our way to or from Aggieland.

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He has said his mom gave him the nickname from when he was a little kid because he had big teeth. Came from a cartoon beaver toothpaste ad:



If you'll notice the song at the bottom, that's the same one that is sung at the girls' slumber party in "Grease"

Jack Squat 83 said:

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Until a few years ago they had a small one in Gonzales that was awesome with a small breakfast taco station and of course the receipts actually printed at the pumps. Restrooms, immaculate.

Stripes bought it, and it was instantly trashed, inside and out. So dumb and lazy. I guess Stripes is successful enough, but for gosh sakes bust out a broom, mop and pressure washer every now and then.

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Stripes bought the one in West Columbia as well and it is the same. I go to the new(er) Exxon at 35/36 there now versus the old Bucees location.

Every stripes I've been too has the feel like you describe though. Good breakfast tacos though.

Urban Ag said:

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QT is the best convenience store out there IMO. Friends with a dude that is a regional Construction Manager for them and I have been really impressed with them as a business. They have ethanol free gas too.

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QT is great for restrooms for about a year after they are open, then the construction workers funk them up like a porta-potty. Every other thing about them beats the poop outa of Circle K here in San Antonio. After Circle K bought Corner Store, they were great for about a year, then went downhill fast.

I used to stop at Buc-ees on business trips to dfw, Austin and San Antonio. But they stopped taking my wex fuel card. I have a small buc-ees down the street in cypress where I would take my car to get washed. So hoping they start taking the wex card again.

There is a wanna be buc-ees in Schulenburg, The Texan that is pretty good.

Canyon Lake Agbu94 said:

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Hell of a fat finger there, or a subconscious head nod to Becky Beard (from BA's past)?

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Wait. Had to google this. So there's some facebook chatter that the Beav may have been involved in the disappearance and death of his ex gf?

torrid said:

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LMCane said:

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they don't have Bucees in the mid atlantic

do they have them in Florida?

up here are some Sheetz and WAWA which are decent

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Already in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and SC. And Florida. Already one under construction in NC, despite being on sacred tribal ground. There is some tribe I'd never heard of before that seems able to find sacred tribal ground all over the state.

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unfortunately it's only one store in central Virginia nowhere near DC.

southern shenandoah valley not even near I-95

will have to find one in South Carolina soon just to experience it.

BusterAg said:

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Indeed, I rarely pass the Buc-ees on Field Store Road on 290 without stopping on my Houston-to-CS route. I think that store could require maroon gear or some kind of proof-of-attendance at A&M to admit you, and still stay in business.

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sir that is a Loves. Buc-ees is at 290 and 362. How dare you call yourself a super fan.

Is Luling still the largest?

I wish my wife would just park on the edge instead of fighting for a "good" spot

anaggieshusband said:

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I wish my wife would just park on the edge instead of fighting for a "good" spot

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Why is she behind the wheel?

Buck Turgidson said:

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My complaint is that the one south of Dallas on I-45 had a poor selection of snacks that were not Buc-ee's in-house brand. I want real Corn Nuts, not the Buc-ee's version. Also, I dont want their in-house brand fountain drinks.

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On the Houston-Dallas I-45 route I prefer Woody's Smokehouse. About halfway and it's a nice change of pace. Still love Buc-cees though.

safety guy said:

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I used to stop at Buc-ees on business trips to dfw, Austin and San Antonio. But they stopped taking my wex fuel card. I have a small buc-ees down the street in cypress where I would take my car to get washed. So hoping they start taking the wex card again.

There is a wanna be buc-ees in Schulenburg, The Texan that is pretty good.

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There's a number of Texans now. I've stopped at the one in Victoria a number of times and it's pretty good. Think there's a new one in Corpus too.

BMX Bandit said:

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anaggieshusband said:

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I wish my wife would just park on the edge instead of fighting for a "good" spot

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Why is she behind the wheel?

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He likes living the dangerous life.