Established in Texas in 1982, Buc-ee’s has simply exploded over the years. Part gas station, part country store, part electric vehicle charger and, at some locations, part car wash, what began as a small chain exclusive to Texas has exploded into 54 mega travel centers spread across 11 states (Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia), with future locations announced every few months (future locations have recently been reported for Arizona, Arkansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin).
Buc-ee’s is a booming business and its estimated revenue in 2022 was $2.5 billion, with a net income of $200 million. The company’s revenue has been growing at a rate of about 20% per year in recent years. So obviously, the chain is popular and a lot of people like it.
However despite its popularity, there are a few things that many customers consistently wish could be changed about Buc-ee’s:
Lack of tables
Buc-ee’s sells a whole lot of freshly (or at least recently) made food. Sandwiches. Salads. Lots and lots of BBQ. And yet there is nowhere to sit down and eat it.
There’s probably a perfectly good reason for this. Buc-ee’s is a rest stop, not a restaurant, and their goal is to get you in and out as quickly as possible. If they had tables – even picnic tables – it would encourage people to “sit a spell.” So I get it. But it’s still a pain to eat a breakfast burrito in your car.
Food choices are generally not healthy
If you’re looking for healthier food – or even food that could be eaten if you’re on any sort of special diet (vegan, diabetic, etc.), you’re probably out of luck.
Buc-ee’s definitely prepares food intended for the masses, not niche groups. So it’s a lot of high carb, high salt, high fat foods. Even its selection of drinks (both fountain and bottled) is much more “full sugar” versions than diet or “no sugar” types.
But if you think about it, Buc-ee’s is, at this point, very much situated in the south. And study after study shows that there’s a higher percentage of obese people in the south. Why would Buc-ee’s sell more low-fat, low sodium or lower carb foods, or more diet sodas, when the majority of their clientele aren’t going to buy them?
But for those who visit Buc-ee’s and are interested in buying food that’s not loaded with sugar, fats and calories, there are slim pickings.
No family bathroom
Buc-ee’s is well known for the cleanliness of its bathrooms. And, of course, there are wheelchair accessible stalls in each Buc-ee’s bathroom area because that’s the law. But for those who are interested in using a family bathroom – perhaps to assist a wheelchair-bound person who wears diapers, perhaps simply to avoid the gender issue (I mean, we ARE talking about the South) – Buc-ee’s doesn’t offer such facilities.
Drivers park at the pump
If you buy gas at your local 7-Eleven, Wawa, etc., it’s not a big deal if you go inside real quick to buy something while your gas is pumping. But some drivers do that at Buc-ee’s, too. And there’s just NO “go inside real quick to buy something” at a Buc-ee’s. The stores are huge, you may get distracted looking at all the “stuff,” you might decide it’s a good time for a bathroom break, and the line to pay for stuff is usually long, too.
And even though Buc-ee’s might have 100+ fuel pumps, it’s hard to find one that’s not in use (again, popularity…plus decent gas prices). So driver’s “going inside real quick,” which is never quick, just exacerbates the problem.
It’s SO popular
I mean, good for Buc-ee’s for making all that money, hand over fist. But the stores wind up being super crowded at times. Plus the surrounding communities have to deal with the Buc-ee’s related traffic and environmental impacts.
It’s so big
Buc-ee’s are huge. because the 100+ fuel pumps, you’re also talking about a store that’s 50,000+ square feet.If you start wandering around and looking at everything, it could easily waste an hour or more of your day.
No truckers allowed
Again, it’s a niche group, but Buc-ee’s doesn’t allow truckers on their property.
It does make sense – Buc-ee’s are enormously popular and there can be times when every one of their parking spots are in use. Full-sized trucks take up multiple spots that could be used by one car each. If you’ve got one person with an 18-wheeler taking up, I dunno, 20 spots? Versus 20 individual cars in those spots…from a business POV, I could see them not wanting truckers on their property.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
