Buc-ee’s Truck – Melissa, Texas
Back in early July, I talked about my milestone of 4 years of daily blogging. The daily blogging started during my college road trip with my older son. I thought the pandemic had nixed plans for a similar college road trip with my younger son, who was about to start his senior year in high school.
It turned out that two of the schools he was targeting were giving on-campus tours. So, we decided to take a mini-road trip with minimal planning. My wife joined us too. So, the three of us started the trek north to Oklahoma. It was hardly the summer vacation of our dreams. But, any diversion from the routine was welcome, even for a few days.
Our first stop? Buc-ee’s, a well known Texas chain of over-sized convenience stores. And, when I say oversized, I mean it. The one in New Braunfels, located between Austin and San Antonio, is the world’s largest convenience store. I talked about it three years ago.
We were headed north, so we stopped at the one just north of Temple, Texas, roughly half-way between Austin and Dallas. There we had a light breakfast. The folks at Buc-ee’s are ingenious. They’ve placed these massive stores about 2 or so hours apart from each other on the major highways. Just perfect for bathroom and snack breaks.
Another 2 – 3 hours and just north of Dallas, we hit our second Buc-ee’s in Melissa, Texas, where I made this photograph. There we had lunch. Given the precautions during the pandemic, these food stops were perfect. We got everything to go and ate in the car.
The well-known in Texas, Buc-ee’s Beaver logo is everywhere, as painted on this truck. They’ve done a heck of a job with the merchandising. They have branded the food, clothing, and accessories — anything that you can think of.
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I took my friends from NJ there when they came to visit. They were blown away. They ended up spending way too much money on all kinds of flavored jerky and trinkets. It was weird. I thought they would look at all the local yokels and be somewhat judgmental about Texas’s IQ level. They surprised me and seemed to fit right in with the marketing genius who designed the place
That’s a great story, Jerry. It is hard to resist the power of Buc-ee’s. Yes, we too spent more money than expected, between the meals and the snacks — multiple times.
They have a great business model. A previously untapped market. Amazing how clean bathrooms can become a competitive advantage.