A road trip through the South is not complete without a stop at a Buc-ee’s gas station. Best known as the gas station chain that serves fresh Texas BBQ, Buc-ee’s is part gas station, part grocery store, and part fresh food pit stop. It’s a place to not only put fuel in your car, but to grab fuel for yourself — ranging from housemade fudge to delicious XXL brisket sandwiches.
While all of these tasty things are what makes Buc-ee’s popular today, it wasn’t always so. Many find this hard to believe, but the chain was initially famous for having clean bathrooms and cheap ice. The kitchen part wasn’t added until the second Buc-ee’s location opened; only then did food become part of Buc-ee’s reputation.
Granted, Buc-ee’s does still have these features today too; a small bag of ice costs just $1 and a large costs $2, which is a great deal. It’s the chain’s focus that has changed. At the start, the founder initially focused on providing customers with the cleanest bathrooms and cheapest ice possible at a gas station. Nowadays, it is all about food items like Beaver Nuggets, the Buc-ee’s exclusive snack.
Buc-ee’s before the food
When the very first Buc-ee’s opened in 1982 in Lake Jackson, Texas, it was just a regular gas station. Many question how Buc-ee’s rose to popularity without the kitchen that makes it iconic today, but the answer is simple. The founder, Arch Aplin III, had a vision for a bigger, better bathroom than all the other gas stations out there. Aplin even went so far as to design the Buc-ee’s bathrooms himself.
Featuring wide entryways and spacious stalls, these bathrooms were more comfortable than that of its competition. Thanks to the help of dedicated staff, the bathrooms of the original Buc-ee’s were kept sparkling clean, which appealed greatly to weary drivers. Aplin combined this with the appeal of cheap ice; he felt these two things were what customers most wanted at a gas station and focused on these specific aspects.
His line of thinking ultimately worked and resulted in a second Buc-ee’s opening in 1985. However, this new location came with a twist: a kitchen. From there came the delicious food, and later on the iconic branding and merchandise that Buc-ee’s is known for today. But its rich history is thanks to just a single, simple gas station with clean bathrooms and cheap ice.
