Buc-ee’s Holds Grand Opening for New Royse City Location

(ROYSE CITY, TX — June 17, 2019) After more than two years of planning and construction, the highly-anticipated Buc-ee’s officially opened the doors to its huge travel center in Royse City this morning.

Located at 5005 E. Interstate 30 near the Royse City High School, the new Buc-ee’s travel center marks the 36th location for the chain in Texas. Cofounders Don Wasek and Arch Aplin opened up the first Buc-ee’s store as partners in Lake Jackson, Texas in 1982. The name Buc-ee’s comes from a combination of co-founder Arch Aplin’s childhood nickname (“Beaver”) and the name of Aplin’s Labrador Retriever, Buck.

The Royse City location rivals the brand’s largest facility in New Braunfels as far as fueling pumps go, with 120 fueling positions and 60 MPDs (Multiple Product Dispenser, or gas station “islands”). Eight MPDs provide ethanol-free fuel and four MPDs are dedicated solely to diesel and diesel exhaust fluid. The rest also provide diesel along with unleaded fuel options.

Inside the Bucee’s 50,000-square-foot travel center, folks will find just about anything one can think of, including a deli serving up mouthwatering barbecue sandwiches, Icee machines, snacks, and Texas-themed merchandise. Buc-ee’s also offers its own private labeled line of specialty food products such as novelty candy, granola, salsa, jarred vegetables and their world famous beef jerky, along with their ever-popular caramel and butter-glazed corn puffs known as Beaver Nuggets. As Buc-ee’s New Store Opening Coordinator Dan Parkinson puts it: “If you can’t find what you’re looking for at Buc-ee’s, you’re not looking hard enough or it’s not worth having.”

According to Parkinson, the Buc-ee’s business model of being clean, friendly and always in stock is what sets them apart from other convenience store/gas stations. The chain particularly prides itself on its sparkling clean restrooms.

“Our restrooms speak volumes for the way that we manage our facilities,” Parkinson said. “Our competitors all talk about having clean restrooms, but we execute that business model and do that better than anybody else.”

Like all Buc-ee’s locations, the Royse City Buc-ee’s will be open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Parkinson said Buc-ee’s has had a very positive impact on the local economy and has been well-received by the Royse City community.

“One of the great things about working here is to see the impact that we have on the local economies, and to see the way we change people’s lives when they come work for us,” Parkinson said. “It’s really very gratifying to see that. We’re super excited to be located here in Royse City. We think that everything about this location is going to be a big win for us.”

Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News.

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