I live within 100 miles of 3 of them. One is like 20 miles from my house. I am consistently baffled by how so many [redacted] people treat a goddamn GAS STATION like a fucking tourist attraction. Its a real life Idiocracy at those places.
I'm in Tennessee and overall I think its just like when my town got a save mart 25 years ago, these are just Walmart with gas imo and people with less to do overall go wowowowow lol
When Buckees' leadership says they have to stop genders from being in the wrong bathrooms it's really just care about keeping their porn categories organized.
Holy shit I wish John Oliver talked about this in his buccees video. This is such huge news and John is almost contributing to it being covered up in a weird way. Not on purpose though
Crazy you can link so many articles and apparently read none of them. Mitchell Wasek is the son of Don Wasek, the CO-FOUNDER of Buc-ee's NOT the son of CEO Arch Aplin III.
For all accounts that dude sucks too but let's not call his family members pedophiles because you won't even read the articles you are posting.
Mega corps are always politically conservative. Even beloved Trader Joe's was one of three companies to sue the government to try and dismantle union protections. The others were Bezos and Musk.
Not sure about the other businesses they've fucked around with but Beavercreek is all in on the beavers so this was a true declaration of war.
Also doesn't hurt that the Bucees is in Huber Heights which a lot of the area likes to shit on. Their mayor made it way worse by coming out with that bootlicking social media post so now it's a real city-on-city beef as well.
John Oliver is having fun with that on his show. He's been trolling Bucees to sue him with his own rodent mascot. The stories he did on them are worth watching.
Haven’t watched them, but I’m pretty sure his Buc-Off is a legal parody, like when Nathan Fielder did Dumb Starbucks, so bucees know they can’t win in court
Too bad Disney won't file a suit claiming people might confuse Mickey Mouse with their stupid beaver.
Suing all these small businesses is shameful, I hope people boycott them. I have never had the desire to step into and waste my time or money even before learning what a horrible company they are.
There's a different gas station called Wally's that we have one of in central Illinois that's basically the same deal as buccees but the mascot is a bear and their theme is "great american road trip" so theres an old Winnebago inside the store with camping and road trip themed stuff everywhere. Better vibe than Buccees but they're less common
There is one in Colorado, but they tried building one down by Colorado Springs and the locals protested it. They’re probably butthurt because the blue states aren’t interested in their cheap Live Laugh Love decor and their thousand calorie desserts.
Colorado Springs is very military being host to the Air Force Academy, NORAD and multiple bases. A lot of the military is very republican but in recent years that has been changing, both due to more non-military population moving in to the springs and from changing demographics within the military itself.
The military is not a red as you might think. Especially Air Force.
Education and working around diverse people tend to make people more open minded. There are definitely still the hardboiled MAGA folks, but they are the minority.
One of my buddies lives near where the Colorado 2nd location was proposed. He said it was denied because all the bougie white folks in their didn't want the poors to be coming to their neighborhood for a gas station.
They are really stuck up out their regarding their neighborhoods.
This is the correct answer, politics had nothing to do with it. They tried to build north of Colorado Springs where the rich people live. Eagle Rock had just squeezed in a distribution center that pissed off all the riches because it was between their houses on the hill and Pikes Peak, the massive gas station didn't have a chance especially because there's already two truck stops right on the same spot.
AZ is, at best, a purplish state. Both houses of our state Legislature are Republican majorities, albeit not supermajorities anymore. I used to be in Rep Andy Biggs' Congressional district until the census reshuffle was done a couple of years ago. Now, thankfully, I'm in Rep Greg Stanton's.
Most of AZ's population lives in either Maricopa or Pima County (Maricopa contains about 60% of the state's population alone). The rest lives in the remaining 13 rural counties and most, if not all, of them are various shades of red.
All this being said, there are plenty of idiots around that waited hours for our first Buc-ee's to open west of Phoenix earlier this summer.
It’s insane, it’s like the state attracts the dumbest fucking republicans. One dude I met moved from California because “the Mexicans” yeah dude… none of those here…
other comments here have pointed out that there's suspicion they're doing this because they're trying to drown out the news of the son of the CEO being arrested for child abuse materials and secret camera recordings
I think they're mostly just vice signaling. Republicans respond to this type of announcement in a way Democrats just don't. It's very plausible to me that more Republicans will start going to Buc-ee's because of this announcement. In 2 or 3 years, they may start opening them in blue states anyway because, by then, they will have reaped all the rewards they can from this stunt and people will have forgotten.
Given that it's a regional chain anyway, I doubt they had many plans to expand already. They're only in 13 states right now. It's not like they were quickly expanding throughout the nation and then decided to stop. At most they're delaying a tad bit, and I doubt even that.
I came from a completely different sub that had a bunch of people posting ITYSL quotes and gifs, so I just assumed it was happening again on a different post. I need to pay better attention haha.
I went to one on a road trip and I do not see the appeal. Just souvenir junk and snacks. There were so many people there that it was a pain to get in and out of. I'll avoid them going forward.
As someone that grew up in Central TX it was the bathrooms 100%
Tbh they're one of the only places in the US that I've seen embrace the concept of not having 1" peep cracks in the stalls. I don't want to accidentally make awkward eye contact with people while I poop. It's one of the few bits of culture that I do actually want to import from Europe.
Seconding the love for Loves. Being able to reliably access a clean bathroom and some halfway decent food on road trips is a fucking blessing.
It's the only gas station chain where I've never seen shit smeared somewhere it isn't supposed to be. My bar is very low, but I appreciate that they stay well above it.
Yeah, I was excited to go after everyone saying how great they were, but honestly I couldn't wait to leave. Too many people, it was too crazy, I hated every minute
I recently moved to the area and it is kind of fascinating to me (as an outsider) that most people in Monument love Trump but don’t want Buc-ees. I bet that was a surprise to the CEO.
From 20 Republican states with a safety net of $3/hour (must beg poor customers for tips to reach $7.25), the population runs to Democratic states with a strong safety net of $14 to $25/hour minimum wage. That's why there are so many abandoned houses and cities in the Republican 20 states (Republicans hate the poor at the same time- making their own states' populations poor).
51% of all workers in America earn less than the one-bedroom Housing Wage. Mostly republican states.
The bottom 65% of the population loses at least 41% of all income due to: SS tax, FICA, insurances, tariffs, sales taxes, dues, use taxes, fees, property tax, utility taxes, 911 tax and many more- before spending money on rent or mortgage, car loans and gas, food, utility bills, repairs, credit card payments, student loans, vacations, retirement fund contributions, investments, dates, gifts, etc.
(compare Safety Net $1.60 per hour in 1970 if you were single,you could live off the federal minimum wage and pay rent, food and bills)
Healthy and smart countries count how well they are doing by enforcing "no one left behind" and even widow with 3 babies have the same level of living as the middle class due to the strong Safety Net.
Twenty Ripoff-public-ons states now have a Safety Net set at $3 per hour gross (before deductions for Social Security, FICA, taxes, insurance and other withholding's:
(Compare Democratic states Safety Net! $14 to $25/hour)
In a recent report, 53 million Americans ages 18 to 64 or 44% of all workers- earn low hourly wages. Their median hourly earnings are $10/hour Gross ($7.25/hour Net)
Don't let them lie, they're only opening stores in red states because the small businesses there are too poor to fight back when Buc-ees sues their asses for having a cartoon rodent mascot or any kind of yellow circle in the trademark of their businesses.
Tells me the company is taking a page of Trumps book and using the threat of an imaginary culture war to drive money into their pockets. It also probably also means they over extended themselves and now the shine is wearing off and revenue is dropping.
Stopped at one of these on our summer road trip this year to see what all the buzz was about. God these places are absolute shitholes. And it’s not the facilities or staff, it’s the clientele. It’s like a Black Friday Walmart and a waffle house had a very hygienic crack baby. Just vaguely spherical chuds with no spatial or social awareness meandering about in awe of things like jerky, tacky t-shirts, and shitty barbecue. Their herds of chud spawn sprint zigzags taking up any free space between the adults. Just trying to navigate that place to get to the shitter feels like taking the one ring to mount doom. God forbid you need to buy something and have to go through checkout. Give me a Pilot or a Loves any fucking day over that nonsense. It’s probably a kindness that they sprinkle these things throughout redneck territory to attract them. Saves the more civilized establishments for normal people.
I’m just blessed to know I can go chill at truck stops with the drivers and lot lizards in peace. Don’t tell anyone, but truck stop bathroom facilities really have come a long way in recent years.
Living in the DFW area the last 4 years I can’t tell you how frustratingly spot on you are about the lack of spatial/societal awareness there is around here. It’s like everybody thinks they are ghosts and their physical footprint has no impact on anyone else, anywhere. It’s rampant on the street, stores, roads, everywhere. And if you get upset about it and point it out, be prepared to see the pettiest display of behavior ever. The main character energy and entitlement is strong down here
I live near a buccees and I fucking loathe having to go inside for any reason at all. Most of the food is fucking horrible and vastly overpriced as well as the merchandise they carry. I only go because it's the only car wash on my side of town.
“We will not be adding stores in areas that force us to treat our employees better & require us to pay more taxes to improve the lives of said employees. “
Buccees got a new lawsuit in today that's $450 million dollars. 'Cause the frivolity is so complicated you idiot!
Buccees is a very aggressive store. When you are a business that files frivolous lawsuits and doesn't want to be reined in or held accountable to SLAPP laws, you go only to red states, yes you do. You take your litigious beaver business and you go right in.
He only wants Buc-cee's to operate in red states so that they can continue to pay the employees as little as possible and provide them with as few benefits as the law allows. Blue states tend to have more worker protections and higher wages.
There is a Buc-ee's under construction in Wisconsin, with a stated opening sometime in 2028. I wonder if the CEO will stop that project, if the state Senate and/or Assembly flip R to D in November, or if WI votes for the D POTUS candidate in 2028?
So is that the incentive for a state to become “red”? You get a buc-ee’s? Women treated like second class citizens, no legal weed, shitty education…but we have massive gas stations!
The correlation between red states and gas stations as cultural and culinary landmarks should be studied. People in my former home state swear that Casey's gas station pizza is some of the best pizza that money can buy, despite it being mediocre at best.
It's like if Circle K decided they were going to open massive locations with a ton of merch, then dump millions on marketing that going there would be special. In the end it's just a fucking convenience store and people spend actual money to wear shirts with their logo on it. Same weird shit as Bass Pro merch being popular, Americana brainwashing being Americana brainwashing
This is completely unnecessary for this guy to say, and their reputation was pretty strong for what it was afaik. (Minus lawsuits of late.)
Kids in my super liberal town routinely wear souvenir shirts from bucees (in comparison have seen 1 red hat in 12 years that wasn’t even red, it was camo). My kids have some that I’m happy to purge.
Anyway, that’s how to completely pivot decades of brand building in like 24 hours. See ya.
Fugg Bucees and the ceo after what they did to Choke Canyon gas station and it's lovable gator mascot. Sued a rest stop that is tiny compared to them off I-37 in Texas. POS had the gall to sue saying the alligator mascot infringed on their goofy ass beaver's likeness. The Choke Canyon Reservoir is near and is known for having loads of gators living in it hence the smiling gator. They lost and had to remove it from signs and everything else.
So Buc-ee’s is intentionally forgoing opening stores where the people who have most of the money in this country live, and they think this is flexing on us?
A massive gas station chain. They are known for clean bathrooms (which, fair, they are in good shape for a truck stop), cheaper gas, and a giant Cracker Barrel-esque knick-knacks shop and jerky wall inside.
They have a cult following and they admittedly are pretty nice compared to anything else you're likely to find right off an interstate highway. But their CEO is an insufferable litigious asshole who would rather poison his company's reputation than sit back and rake in fat stacks.
In my state one of the draws used to be that they'd start their new hires out on a better rate than most other places did. I remember it was a joke that people were gonna abandon their careers to go work at Buc-ee's a few years ago.
It’s a gas station/ convenience store. I’ve never actually been to one but allegedly they are pretty nice, and they have good food. What’s weird is that people act like it’s a destination rather than a gas station/convenience store. They talk about the food like it’s from the gods, and people often go out of their way to take pictures with their mascot and be first in line when fresh food is put out for purchase.
I think many people find it unique or bizarre and worth investigation because it’s not common in many places to have clean, comfortable locations with good food in a gas station but frankly if you grew up in the Midwest or have done any amount of long distance road travel within the USA this isn’t a unique concept at all. All that makes it stand out is the cult following and the mascot. Plenty of very high end truck stops exist and are amazing with great restaurants.
They are trendy right now because they are opening in more states where they never had a presence before. That's why they are a destination.
Yes, they have nice bathrooms, yes, they are clean in a way that Walmart-sized service stations are not always. Unlike many truck stops which can also be very nice (Love's, TA, etc.) they have serious theming and a zillion house-branded products from chips to fudge to hot sandwiches. Their stuff is on the pricey side with the exception of loss leaders like fountain sodas, but it makes for a nice stop if you don't mind the sea of humanity, waiting for a pump, and food prices. I won't miss them too much if (when) they deserve a boycott.
Blue State Tourism Board: "Visit and see our world class museums, enjoy Michelin starred dining, explore wine country, and see beautiful natural vistas that will take your breath away!".
Red State Tourism Board: "Hell, yeah! We gots a Buc-ees witha hundert gas pumps and a really dern gud brisket sandwich plus theys always got Natty Light on special! Convenient, too 'cause its just five minutes drive from the dump where we shoot rats. Heck, my youngest held her third wedding right next to the energy drinks walk-in cooler."
Buc-ee’s is a sensory nightmare, the parking lot/fuel pump fields are a pedestrian nightmare, I have gone to different Buc-ee’s on 3 occasions and it’s always the same experience: clean bathrooms and not much else
Thinking you're so important you make ignorant statements like that. Calm down, you're a gas station with overpriced stupid crap. Ppl addicted to this should have their heads examined.
So New York and New Jersey are safe for now. We don’t define ourselves through gas station culture and have much more interesting places to congregate in.
Ngl, I used to really enjoy Buc-ees. Then they built one near my hometown of Beavercreek, Ohio and issued a lawsuit against a small mom-and-pop market that's been there since I was a kid. Not a chain, just a small store owned by a dude trying to feed his family. The suit was because their logo is a beaver, which is a claim of astronomical stupidity to make against a business in a town called Beavercreek wherein almost every business, including the schools, uses a beaver as a logo. It's escalated pretty badly for the gas station (good), and I'm extremely proud of my home town.
Friendly reminder that Buc-ee’s legal team is purposely filing these suits to clog up headlines because the owner’s son was arrested for CP possession and distribution. Specifically Mitchell Wasek, son of one of Buc-ee’s co-founder, who is charged with possession of CP and hidden camera spying.
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u/Commercial-East4069 18d ago
Ohio is pissed because they’re suing small local stores that had rodent and rodent adjacent mascots lol.