The Thrill of Buc-ee’s, Once a Texas Roadside Oasis, Is Gone [Snowflake to the extreme]

Eater.Com ^ | 01/20/2022 | Amy McCarthy

[SES1066]

As gas stations go, there are few chains that have managed to capture the attention of travelers — and eaters — like Buc-ee’s. The Texas-born chain is a highway oasis, boasting a slew of clean bathrooms, a dizzying array of snacks and prepared foods, and tons of merch emblazoned with the chipper face of its mascot, a beaver named Bucky. [...]

Founded in 1982, the chain slowly built a local cult following and in 2001, owner Arch “Beaver” Aplin expanded the convenience store into a full-fledged travel center in Luling, Texas. More locations popped up across the state in the following years, and by 2019, the chain expanded outside of the state with a location in Robertsdale, Alabama. Buc-ee’s has continued expanding at an impressive clip since then, opening locations in Georgia, Florida, and soon, Tennessee.

[Antoninus]

We drove through the southeast a couple years ago on a family trip. My kids thought that Loves was the best thing they had ever encountered. Then we got to Buc-ees. Oh. My. Goodness. It was highway rest-stop Nirvana. They still talk about it to this day.

[M Kehoe]

Buc-ees, Wawa, Thornton’s oh my.

5.56mm

[arkfreepdom]

There a few Stuckeys left. One not far from okc. Can get the divinity there

[Ken H]

“Buc-ees, Wawa, Thornton’s oh my.”

---

Thornton’s is wilder.

[Golden Eagle]

Good to hear, thanks!

[libertylover]

There’s one opening soon here in Central Kentucky - they’re looking for workers now.

It’ll have 120 gas pumps!

Once it opens I’ll go just to have a look see.

It’s a bonus that the owners contribute to conservative leaders.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

and donated to the campaign for Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently under indictment for alleged securities fraud.

Lemme guess: Travis County brought that charge against him somehow.

[bigdaddy45]

I stopped at one in Georgia today. The bathroom was incredible.

[crusty old prospector]

The only problem I have with Buccee’s is that on holiday weekends, the lines back off of the service road on to the interstate.

[arkfreepdom]

https://stuckeys.com/

[Carriage Hill]

I can’t even imagine how many fuel tanker trucks it takes to fill the underground storage tanks. That place is H-U-G-E.

[ANKE69]

I live a few miles from one, too (in Georgia)!!
Love it and always has the lowest gas prices. ⛽

[TexasFreeper2009]

so a liberal is upset that Republican Texas has businesses that support Republicans?>

LMAO

please, for everyone sack lib, steer clear of the buc-ee’s leave it all to ME!!!!

[RushCrush]

That was a pathetic and poorly-written sixth grade level attempt at an attack. Laughable.

[leaning conservative]

I’m not absolutely that is a woman......

[deport]

Yes huge to say the least. I've been in a few over the years

Click to see what huge is to Buc-ee's

[leaning conservative]

Sure

[peggybac]

By the looks of her, she’s obviously not too concerned where or what she eats.

[Lockbox]

Jim Bankoff, head of Vox’s Media which owns Eater.....

In 2008, Bankoff was hired to be CEO of SB Nation, a sports fan blogging site founded by liberal activists Tyler Bleszinski and Markos Moulitsas (founder of the left-wing political site Daily Kos) in 2003. Within two years, SB Nation was logging 8 million unique visitors and 40 million page views each month, and Bankoff had grown the site’s revenue’s fourfold. [4]

However, the company was criticized by many progressives for its employment policies: SB Nation bloggers were all independent contractors without health or other benefits, many making as little as $600 per month, and the company demanded that they write a minimum number of posts before they would be paid. These contributors, one writer noted, “put in long hours and receive only token sums for work against which Vox sells ads.” [5]

Vox Media was created in 2011 when SB Nation was merged with The Verge, a technology-focused website that had been founded by writers and editors from SB Nation. Bankoff became CEO of the newly formed company. [6] The company’s most prominent media brand, Vox.com, was founded by left-wing journalists and activists Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell in 2014. [7] Vox pioneered the “explaining the news” editorial model that has been criticized for presenting the writers’ personal opinions under the guise of neutral journalism, with even left-leaning critics saying its reporting is “almost a parody of liberal faux-neutrality”[8] and involves “characterizing its views as self-evident truths.”

https://www.influencewatch.org/person/jim-bankoff/

[Robert DeLong]

Here's her real problem with the establishment:

My disenchantment with the chain might also have something to do with the fact that founder Arch Aplin is a financial supporter of the some of the state’s most loathsome politicians. He’s given more than a million dollars to Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the country’s most restrictive abortion ban into law in 2021, and donated to the campaign for Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently under indictment for alleged securities fraud. The donations sparked a minor controversy, with some Democrats vowing to boycott the chain, but the boycott never gained much traction.