With Buc-Ee’s going nationwide, are Texans still passionate? (Houston: shops, food)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

I’m not a member of the Buc-Ee’s cult nor do I understand it. I enjoy their stores on road trips but still don’t understand it’s cult following. I even came across a video where someone flew in from Canada to check it out. Anyway, from a business perspective, it’s nonetheless an American success story. Growing up, I first saw them in Baytown growing up on trips to Louisiana and back from Houston. They fairly quickly grew to other Texas markers and the cult following multiplied.

They’re in over 10 states now and not just the south. Even Colorado is getting one now. They didn’t go out of state until a couple of years ago but they’re multiplied that basically instantly.

Just curious, are Texans still riding with the beaver?

[Lz_2022]

Why would their expansion change how people react/interact/view Buc-ees?

[ScoPro]

I never was aware of them until a few years before the pandemic started.
Didn’t really notice them during our frequent trips to Dallas & San Antonio on I-35 until reading comments online.
We have since stopped at the New Braunfels location twice to pee and that’s about it. I hate junk shops.

[ADCS]

Do Texans still obsess over Whataburger?

As long as Buc-ee's marketing firm does its job, the beaver will still reign.

[Dopo]

Why does it matter?
Whataburger is now owned by a Chicago investment group and I don't see a decline on the drive-thru at the Whataburger by my house.

[LocalPlanner]

I think the "cult" got started because they were truly one of the only highway stops where women could be assured of clean restrooms. That was their most essential marketing element early, and the real brilliance is that people spread it via word of mouth. Buc-ee's was smart enough not only to have the restrooms, but build upon it with the Beaver logo and groan-worthy highway signs, then the branded packaged food - I think this helped get men hooked. Then going full-tilt into the retail side with the onsite kitchens and big stores kind of sent them into the stratosphere and cemented their legacy. The crazy number of pumps just added to that.

I'm not a "cult" member myself and don't patronize them for reasons I won't go into here.

Since other highway c-stores have been forced to up their restroom game, Buc-ee's has to rely now on its store environment and offerings (they probably anticipated this). Honestly that will be hard for another startup to duplicate, so I imagine the cult will continue, even if it's not seen as exclusively Texan.

[LocalPlanner]

It's to the point now where if you watch travel videos on YouTube about Texas, they usually mention Buc-ee's as a "must-do."

[SanJac]

Is it really a "cult" when Buc-ee's is the only option on road trips? People will go with what is convenient and clean. The fact that Colorado has a Buc-ee's doesn't change my road trip from Houston to Austin.

[Raider Scott]

So people that do not enjoy scary creepy truck-stops with horrible bathrooms are now a "cult?"


...whattevs, dude...

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Raider Scott

So people that do not enjoy scary creepy truck-stops with horrible bathrooms are now a "cult?"


...whattevs, dude...

No. People that wear their shirts, put their bumper sticker on their trucks and shove it down others throats are