“They want to spend money there”: Buc-ee’s reinvents the gas station in Texas and elsewhere

The chain opened its first location outside of Texas in in Alabama in 2019. Since then, the company has opened 15 locations outside the Lone Star State, introducing a new approach to gas stations and convenience stores for people outside of Texas. The company is positioning its stores as places people make a point of stopping on their road trips, rather than as an afterthought.

Arch Aplin III, who came from a family of entrepreneurs, founded Buc-ee’s in 1982 with a small grocery store near Lake Jackson, Texas, and spent decades growing the chain in the state, turning the stores into the “travel centers” they are known for today, with increasingly larger locations over the years. The company rarely discloses revenue information, but according to Texas Monthly, the chain’s revenue grew from $202 million to $959 million from 2006 to 2015. That was before it opened several more locations in Texas and began its national expansion.

The brand has already built a huge following that extends beyond state lines. A private Facebook group called “Buc-ees Love” has 280,000 members. Another, “BUC-EES LOVERS ❤️,” has 246,000 members. Many more also have tens of thousands of followers, including groups dedicated exclusively to buying and selling Buc-ees merchandise.

Buc-ee’s also gained notoriety through seemingly misspelled or even controversially placed billboards: one read “hodwy” instead of “howdy,” and another read “slay” in giant yellow letters beneath an advertisement for a shooting range.

The company operates 50 stores, including 35 in Texas. After opening in Alabama, it has since opened stores in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Colorado. Five more stores will open in Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia in 2025 or 2026. The company also just broke ground on its first location in Ohio. Some of its newest stores are over 65,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of an average grocery store and about 30 times the size of a typical convenience store.

Still, “It’s not like they have over 100 gas pumps, it’s not like it’s a 20-acre property,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores. “What resonates with people is the customer experience.”

Buc-ee’s’ success is due to the fact that people now look forward to previously unpleasant tasks during car trips – such as stopping for a bathroom break, finding something to eat or filling up with gas, says Lenard.

Lenard said that about a quarter of the people who come Walking through a supermarket and using the restroom is what makes or breaks the experience. For many visitors to Buc-ee’s, the highly praised restrooms are often the start of a much longer stay at the store.

After they leave the bathroom, they’ll find what Lenard calls “food theater,” where brisket is sliced ​​in an open kitchen. They might see Buc-ee’s beaver mascot and want to take a photo with him. The merchandise is uniquely presented and constantly changing. Plush beaver toys can be found on display in a Buc-ee-themed pickup truck, while the line of T-shirts featuring the Bucc-ee logo rotates in different seasonal designs.

“Suddenly you’re just caught up in the question, ‘What am I experiencing here? I’m not sure, but I want to spend more money here,'” Lenard said.

According to NACS, the average time people spend in a supermarket is three minutes and 33 seconds. At a typical gas station, customers are out the door in less than 10 minutes. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of anyone spending 10 minutes or less at Buc-ee’s,” Lenard said. “You want to spend time there and spend money there.”

Lenard said the challenge for Buc-ee’s as it expands will be meeting the sky-high expectations of existing fans. “Expansion is going to mean they have to keep telling the story, and not just tell the story, but they have to get it right every time,” he said. “It’s harder to meet really, really high expectations. It’s possible, but it’s harder.”

Gary Orosy, an associate professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University near Dallas, said Buc-ee’s has all the elements that help build brand equity: It not only provides travelers with essentials, but is also fun and entertaining, has built loyalty — people pass by many other gas stations to visit Buc-ee’s — and connects people emotionally. “I can’t believe people want to wear Buc-ee’s T-shirts, but they do,” he said.

He said the brand has created a unique atmosphere that sets it apart from competitors like 7-Eleven and QuikTrip.

“The thing about Buc-ee’s is that it’s not overly sophisticated,” Orosy said. “It’s just excellent at what it does. Obviously, there aren’t as many of them as there are other smaller formats that are easier to build and a little easier to install, but it’s definitely one that draws a lot of people, and people stay and stay for a while.”