Perhaps more than any other Texas store, Buc-ee’s implores people to use its bathrooms.

Near the Louisiana border, a billboard says: “Only 262 Miles to Buc-ee’s. You can Hold It.”

Another one reads: “Restrooms So Clean We Leave Mints In the Urinals.”

The idea behind the billboards: When motorists pull in to use the restroom, they are likely to buy.

And at Buc-ee’s, they can buy things they won’t find at most other gas station-convenience stores.

Of the 25 Buc-ee’s — pronounced “Bucky’s” — the biggest and most famous is the flagship in Luling where, along with gas, beer and soda, they sell peppered elk jerky, 18 kinds of homemade fudge, private-label peach salsa, hunting supplies, smoke pits and souvenir T-shirts and bumper stickers for their almost cult-like fans.

It’s a roadside tourist attraction that will soon have a greater presence among Texas motorists.

Early next year, the company will open two more flagship stores similar to the Luling operation: one connecting Houston and Dallas on Interstate 45 in Madisonville and the other between Houston and Victoria on U.S. 59 in Wharton — which means more irreverent Buc-ee’s billboards on Texas highways.

The Madisonville store will be almost twice as big as the one in Luling.

Stores full of surprises

Asked what he’ll put in the Madisonville store with all the extra space, Buc-ee’s owner Beaver Aplin said, “More stuff.”When the Lake Jackson native opened his first Buc-ee’s in 1982, it was a conventional gas station-convenience store. Since then, Buc-ee’s has become a retail category all its own.

Even the smaller stores hold surprises.

At the Shadow Creek Parkway Buc-ee’s in Pearland, for example, seven touch-screen kiosks at the gas pumps allow customers to save time by custom ordering sandwiches while filling up. Inside, there are 100 varieties of wine, potato chips made on site, a Starbucks-like coffee operation, elegantly packaged French and Italian olive oils, 48 flavors of Jelly Belly and scores of private-label products.

“We’re just starting to get in our Christmas gift items,” noted Ronnie Miller, the store’s general manager.

Two more Buc-ee’s are being built in the Houston area: one on Grand Parkway in the Richmond area and another on U.S. 290 south of Fairfield. The company already has two Houston-area stores, both in Pearland.

Aplin’s quirky business model may be shrewd.

“They’re taking a product category with zero excitement and giving it some,” said Betsy Gelb, professor of marketing at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.

“If you can give consumers a little whimsy and humor and a little distraction from the long drive, why shouldn’t they go there?” she said referring to the billboards for the Luling store.

In five years, the Luling flagship has become an institution, partly because of the billboards. The closer you get to Luling, the more of them you see:

“Eat Here. Get Gas.”

“Jerky. One Of The Five Major Food Groups.”

For many who travel between Houston and San Antonio, a stop at the Luling Buc-ee’s breaks the monotony of a long drive.

Origin of the beaver

The flagship Buc-ee’s draws a vivid mix of big city and small town customers, and on weekends they come in droves. Busloads of soldiers and students poured in on a recent Sunday.It seems to have special appeal for children and college students: “They all want a T-shirt — they all think it’s cool,” said Andrew Herman, a sixth-grade Kinkaid School teacher with his class.

“Everybody stops at this one like it was the end of civilization,” said customer Carla Robinson.

Aplin, 50, opened his first Buc-ee’s about two years after graduating with a construction engineering degree from Texas A&M University.

He worked briefly in his family construction and development business before going out on his own. He had been influenced in his youth by his grandfather, who owned a general store and gas station in Harrisonburg, La.

Aplin is in charge of design, construction and finance for Buc-ee’s, while his partner Don Wasek manages operations.

Two years ago, the Stan & Lou ad agency was hired to bring more focus and personality to the billboard campaign and overall Buc-ee’s brand.

The name “Buc-ee’s” is a takeoff on his own name “Beaver.” His real name is Arch Aplin III. He got the nickname “Beaver” from his mother, he said.

Fragmented industry

Independent operators like Buc-ee’s are able to thrive in the gas station-convenience store industry that is highly fragmented. The 50 largest companies own less than a 40 percent market share, according to Hoovers.

About 65 percent of convenience store revenue derives from gasoline, 12 percent comes from groceries, 11 percent cigarettes and 4 percent beer and wine, Hoovers reports.

Fuel sales make up two thirds of Buc-ee’s sales, Aplin said. At most locations, Buc-ee’s sells its own gas brand. Aplin was not willing to share numbers, but said his business is solid.

Aplin gets hundreds of e-mails of appreciation a month, he said. A soldier in Iraq wrote that he slapped a Buc-ee’s beaver logo sticker on his tank.

“In our industry you don’t expect someone to send fan mail about a gas station. It makes you feel good,” Aplin said.

david.kaplan@chron.com

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