Buc-ee's

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Buc-ee's
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded1982
FounderArch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek
Headquarters
Lake Jackson, Texas
,
U.S.
Number of locations
36
ProductsFuel, coffee, beverages, beef jerky, snacks, car wash, prepared foods, clothing, home decor, outdoor items, specialty gifts
Websitewww.buc-ees.com

Buc-ee's is a Texan chain of convenience stores and gas stations located in the Central, North, South, and Southeast regions of Texas as well as locations in Southern Alabama, and Florida.[1] The company is owned by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek and has its headquarters in Lake Jackson, Texas.[2] The chain is known for its very large-format stores and clean restrooms (relative to other convenience stores) and a logo depicting a beaver.

History

Co-Founders Don Wasek and Arch "Beaver" Aplin opened their first store as partners, which is still open as of 2019, in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. Aplin formed the name Buc-ee's by combining his childhood nickname; the name of his Labrador Retriever, Buck; as well as the appeal of Ipana toothpaste's animated mascot, Bucky the beaver.[3][4] Aplin was born in Southeast Texas, with his father originating from, and grandparents residing in, Harrisonburg, Louisiana.[5]

Buc-ee's expanded and opened its first travel center in Luling, Texas, in 2001. Buc-ee's are large stores with fuel pumps that range from 80-120 fueling positions for gas and diesel (some stores include Ethanol Free and DEF) and a large selection of jerky, pastries, fresh sandwiches, tacos, Dippin' Dots and fudge and other items.

In 2012, Buc-ee's opened its largest travel center in New Braunfels, Texas, on Interstate 35. The New Braunfels location is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet.[6] 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.[7]

The first Buc-ee's in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex opened in Terrell, Texas, on June 22, 2015. The travel center is located three miles west of Tanger Outlets on Interstate 20.

In September 2015 it was announced that at least part of Buc-ee's corporate operations would move to office space at Pearland Town Center. The "partial headquarters" would house legal and human resources departments of the company. The space was to be ready by the early part of 2016,[8]

The second Buc-ee's in the Metroplex opened on May 23, 2016. The store is located in far northern Fort Worth, across the street from Texas Motor Speedway.[9] The third DFW location opened in Denton, Texas, on October 29, 2018.

Buc-ee's broke ground on another North Texas location in Melissa, Texas, on February 5, 2018. The store is located off New Davis Road and U.S. Highway 75. The store is expected to open in February 2019.[10]

In June 2018, Buc-ee's approached landowners in Texarkana, Texas, with interest in acreage off Interstate 30 and State Line Ave., for a future store site. The company has the option to buy the property, but as of yet, has not exercised that option.[11][12]

In late 2018, Buc-ee's announced a deal with Tooshlights to put special indicator lights in bathrooms to alert customers to which stalls are occupied or not. This is similar to the indicator lights used at some parking facilities that tell drivers which parking spaces are available and which are not. The Katy and Temple Buc-ee's stores would be the first to get the special bathroom indicator lights.[13]

Expansion outside Texas

On March 8, 2016, Buc-ee's announced a possible first location outside of the state of Texas would be located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[14] 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.[15][16]

On April 12, 2017, Buc-ee's announced that it would open their first convenience store/gas station outside of Texas in Daytona Beach, Florida, located on the north side of LPGA Boulevard across from Tanger Outlets, just east of Interstate 95 and immediately west of Stonewood Grill & Tavern (formerly Vince Carter's). At 50,000 square feet with 120 fueling positions the Daytona Beach travel center would be the largest in Florida and the largest outside of Texas.[17] Construction began in summer 2018.[18] However, delays in the project pushed the construction date to sometime in 2020 or 2021. Since the announcement of the Daytona Beach location, Buc-ee's also announced a new location to be built near St. Augustine, Florida.[19]

In January 2018, Buc-ee's broke ground on what became its first location outside of Texas, in Baldwin County, Alabama.[20] A few weeks after the Baldwin County location began construction, Buc-ee's announced that a second Southern Alabama location will be built in Mobile.[21] And in June 2019, Buc-ee's broke ground on a third Alabama location, to be located along Interstate 20 in Leeds, not far from Barber Motorsports Park.[22]

Buc-ee's broke ground on its first store in Georgia in Warner Robins on November 18, 2019. Buc-ee's chose Warner Robins as the location of its first Georgia store for its central location between Alabama and Florida, its fast population growth as well as the presence of Robins Air Force Base. The Warner Robins location is expected to open in 2021 and will bring 200 jobs to the area.[23]

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. A popular branded product is caramel and butter-glazed corn puffs known as 'Beaver Nuggets.'

Lawsuits

In recent years, during the company's rapidly growing success, Buc-ee's has filed numerous lawsuits against other convenience store chains, most of them based in Texas, for trademark and trade dress infringement.

In 2014, Buc-ee's filed a lawsuit against Texas based convenience store chain "Frio Beaver".[24] Frio Beaver, a company with a logo also depicting a beaver in a yellow circle with a black outline, was accused of copying the iconic Buc-ee's beaver head logo, which the company is widely known for in Texas.

In 2016, Buc-ee's sued "Choke Canyon BBQ", another Texas convenience store, for copyright infringement and trade dressing.[25] Choke Canyon uses a logo of a grinning alligator in the middle of a yellow circle, which Buc-ee's claims is an attempt by the chain to resemble the Buc-ee's logo. Choke Canyon is also calling their new stores "Bucky's".[26]

In 2017, Buc-ee's again filed a lawsuit for breaking an agreement, this time against a Nebraska-based convenience store chain known as "Bucky's".[27] The two companies had agreed to remain in their respective states and expand only to states where the other did not operate.

There was also a non-logo related lawsuit filed in 2013 against "Chicks", a convenience store located in Bryan, Texas, for trade dressing by allegedly copying Buc-ee's mega convenience store designs and layout.[28] The case was settled out of court.[24]

Buc-ee's also lost a Texas Employee Retention Agreement case on an appeal in 2017. A year after a trial court ordered a former employee pay Buc-ee's close to $100,000 in damages and attorney's fees for breaching a "Retention Agreement," a Texas court of appeals reversed the decision and ordered that Buc-ee's take nothing on its claims against the former employee. The court reasoned that the contract violated Texas' employment-at-will doctrine. It could only be valid if it met the requirements of an actual non-compete agreement, but as this did not meet Texas requirement for non-compete, the contract was not enforceable.[29]

Locations

The following are stores owned and operated by Buc-ee's;[30] listings in italics are store locations in development or not yet open.

State City / Town / Area Address Number
of fuel
pumps		 Notes
Alabama Leeds I-20 at Exit 140. unknown due to open Fall 2020[31]
Mobile 3474 Springhill Ave. (W. of I-65) unknown no known opening date[32]
Robertsdale I-10 at Baldwin Beach Exp. 120 opened January 21, 2019; first location outside Texas[33][34][35]
Florida Daytona Beach I-95 at LPGA Blvd. 120 due to open in 2019[36][37]
Fort Myers I-75 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (SR 82) 80 due to open in 2019[38][39]
Ocala I-75 at Nw 49th street 120 [40]
St. Augustine I-95 at International Golf Pkwy. 104 due to open in 2019[37][41]
Georgia Warner Robins I-75 at Russell Pkwy. 116 due to open in early 2021
Texas Alvin SH 35 Bypass at FM 517 12
Angleton SH 288 at SH 35 20
Loop 274 at Wilkins St. 16
SH 35 at Hospital Dr. 10
Bastrop SH 71 at SH 21 96 opened 2012
Baytown I-10 at John Martin Rd. 96
Boerne I-10 at Business US 87 ~90 possibly due to open in 2019[42][43]
Brazoria SH 36 at Pleasant St. 8
SH 36 at Lazy Ln. 6
Cypress US 290 at Mueschke Rd. 24 has car wash
Denton I-35E, south of S. Loop 288 122[44] opened October 29, 2018;[45][46] has car wash
Eagle Lake Alt US 90 at FM 102 10
Ennis I-45 at Creechville Rd. 86 originally due to open in May–June 2019,[47][48] since pushed back to mid-2020[49]
Fort Worth I-35W at SH 114 96
Freeport SH 288 at FM 523 12
SH 332 at FM 523 8
Giddings US 290 at County Road 133 20
Katy I-10 at Cane Island Pkwy. 120+[50] has car wash; longest in the world (225 feet)[51][52][53]
Lake Jackson Oyster Creek Dr. at Old Angleton Rd. 8 first Buc-ee's location
FM 2004 at Old Angleton Rd. 12
SH 288-SH 332 at Plantation Dr. 32 has car wash
League City SH 96 at Louisiana Ave. 24
Luling I-10 at US 183 48
Madisonville I-45 at US 190-SH 21 120 per Brian Jones has Shell gas (instead of self-branded)
Melissa US 75 at Davis Rd. ~100 Opened April 29, 2019;[54] originally due to open in February 2019,[55][56] date changed to mid-2019[57]
New Braunfels I-35 at FM 306 120 67,000 sq ft (6,200 m2) store, 83 restroom stalls,
31 checkstands, 1000 parking spaces[58][59]
Pearland SH 35 at Walnut St. 12
SH 288 at Shadow Creek Pkwy. 28
Port Lavaca US 87 at SH 35 20
Richmond Crabb River Rd. at Sansbury Blvd. 24 has car wash
Royse City I-30 at FM 2642 ~50 opened June 17, 2019 Originally due to open in 2020,[60][61] since changed to mid-2019[62]
Temple I-35 at N. Loop 363 84
Terrell I-20 at FM 148 84 first Buc-ee's built in north Texas[63]
Texas City I-45 at Holland Rd. 60
Waller US 290 at FM 362 52
Waxahachie I-35E at Butcher Rd. unknown no known opening date[64][65]
Wharton US 59 at FM 102 32

References

  1. ^ Olivia, Pulsinelli (26 April 2017). "Buc-ee's announces plans for southeastern U.S. expansion". Houston Business Journal. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Made In Texas: The Buc-ee's Success Story". TexasMonthly.com. 26 Feb 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  3. ^ Elizabeth Abrahamsen, "10 Things You Didn’t Know About Buc-ee’s", Wide Open Country. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  4. ^ "The History of Ipana", buckybeaver.ca. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  5. ^ Benson, Eric (March 2019). "Buc-ee's: The Path to World Domination". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  6. ^ Miguel Bustillo (September 12, 2012). "Roadside Stopper: Can Something Be Too Big in Texas?". Wall Street Journal. New York, N.Y. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Buc-ee's New Braunfels Bathroom is America's Best - EON: Enhanced Online News". businesswire.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  8. ^ "PEDC Welcomes Buc-ee’s to Pearland", Pearland Economic Development Corporation, September 17, 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  9. ^ Cokely, Kevin (2016-05-19). "Buc-ee's Fort Worth to Open Monday | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth". Nbcdfw.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
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  11. ^ Jim Weaver, "Has Buc-ee’s Got Their Sights Set On A Texarkana Location? Maybe", KKYR.com, June 12, 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  12. ^ "Texas chain eyes KOA properties, manager reports", Texarkana Gazette, June 12, 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
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  14. ^ Timothy Boone, "Popular Buc-ee’s convenience store chain coming to Baton Rouge", Baton Rouge Advocate, March 12. 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  15. ^ Timothy Boone, "Buc-ee’s drops plans for Baton Rouge location, citing 'critical mass'", Baton Rouge Advocate, October 4, 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  16. ^ "Popular convenience store Buc-ee's pulls out of plans for Louisiana location", WWL-TV, October 4, 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
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  19. ^ Korfhage, Stuart (26 February 2019). "Buc-ee's in Daytona, St. Augustine still on track". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
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  23. ^ "Buc-ee's plans first Georgia location in Warner Robins". WMAZ-TV. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
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  25. ^ "Buc-ee's is suing a rival chain for copying its beaver logo - All Ablog Austin". statesman.com.
  26. ^ http://www.buckysexpress.com/location/houston
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  28. ^ "Chicks Hatching Plot to Be Like Buc-ee's?". cspdailynews.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29.
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  30. ^ "List of Buc-ee's Stores", Buc-ees.com. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
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  46. ^ Lingren, Jennifer (2015-12-02). "Buc-ee's One Step Closer To Building New Travel Center In Denton". KTVT. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  47. ^ Branca, Andrew (March 2, 2018). "Buc-ee's to open new store in Ennis by mid-2019". Waxahachie Daily Light. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
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  50. ^ Snyder, Mike (2017-08-22). "New Katy Buc-ee's has gas pumps as far as the eye can see". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  51. ^ Johnston, Kelci (August 22, 2017). "New, 50,000-square-foot Buc-ee's to open Monday in Katy". click2houston.com. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
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  54. ^ Sarah Blaskovich, "Look inside the newest Buc-ee's mega gas station, now open in Collin County", Guidelive.com ([The Dallas Morning News]), April 29, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
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  56. ^ "Buc-ee's breaks ground in Melissa". KXII-TV. February 8, 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
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  60. ^ "Buc-ee's Travel Center Announced for Royse City". KXAS-TV. March 19, 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  61. ^ Markon, John (July 14, 2017). "Bucc-ee's, baseball park in Royse City delayed". Greenville Herald-Banner. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
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  64. ^ Branca, Andrew (June 20, 2018). "Waxahachie council approves zoning for new apartment complex; tax abatement for Buc-ee's". Waxahachie Daily Light. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  65. ^ Branca, Andrew (July 6, 2018). "Waxahachie City Council approves zoning for new 73 cottages". Waxahachie Daily Light. Retrieved 2018-08-10.

Further reading

External links

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