A Hot Check and Two Gas Pumps: How Buc-ee's Conquered America

Clute, Texas · 1982

Arch "Beaver" Aplin III graduated from Texas A&M in 1980 with a degree in Building Construction and no job. What he wanted was the thing he'd wanted since he was a kid: a convenience store of his own.

On July 28, 1982, the first Buc-ee's opened in Clute, Texas: roughly 3,000 square feet, two gas pumps, one small store.

The lot for that first store was bought with a $52,800 check that Aplin could not actually cover when he wrote it.

In 1985 a second, larger store followed: about 6,000 square feet, four pumps, and the company's first kitchen. Don Wasek joined as a partner.

For 21 years, Buc-ee's was a regional chain built around the needs of local residents, mostly in Brazoria County. By 2001 it had around 20 stores and about $63 million in annual sales.

In August 2003, Aplin opened a 10,764 square foot travel center on Interstate 10 in Luling, Texas. It was aimed at people passing through rather than people who lived nearby, with impeccably clean restrooms, signature snacks like Beaver Nuggets, and a welcoming atmosphere for families.

Revenue reached about $202 million in 2006. In May 2012 a 68,000 square foot travel center opened in New Braunfels. By 2015, annual revenue was about $959 million.

On January 21, 2019, the first store outside Texas opened in Loxley, Alabama. In June 2024 the company opened what it describes as the world's largest convenience store, 75,593 square feet, back in Luling. As of that date it operated 55 stores in 14 states.

Just as telling is what the company won't do: no franchising, no public offering, no online store, no phone numbers for individual stores, no overnight parking, and no 18-wheelers.

This chapter summarizes the research presented in the video above. A full, itemized source list for Buc-ee's will be added to this page. See our editorial standards for how we work, and if you spot something wrong, please tell us.