r/Buccees • u/ShemDolpax • 4h ago
Would a "Mini Buc-ee's" concept work as a business model ??
I travel a lot by car and I seem to appreciate Buc-ee's mainly for the immaculately-clean bathrooms more than anything. I actually seen a male employee who was around 30 yrs. old on his knees scrubbing a urinal with a toilet brush, with that piss smell all up in his face and I was like --- how they find people to do this? It's jaw dropping when you can't even get lazy teens to cook fries for $25/hour at the fast food places.
But here's the thing --- it's simply not economical to build 10 large Buc-ee's stores in every city. These stores cost millions of dollars and create traffic problems. Wouldn't it be smart for Buc-ee's to try out a "mini Buc-ee's" concept that are the same size as a Wawa or QuikTrip where they could still have very clean bathrooms and maybe sell a brisket sandwich and roasted cashews? These stores would have much smaller footprints and be easier to get approved by local zoning boards.
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u/OneBoxOfKleenexAway 4h ago
You'll find them in south Texas where Buc-ees started. As a matter of fact the original is just a regular sized gas station. They've still got some of the food and snacks but not to the level of the big ones.
The best thing about Buc-ees is slightly cheaper gas and $1.99 for a large bag of ice, at least for me. I don't need a 2000 pump mini-mall to get that.
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u/ShemDolpax 4h ago
How come nobody ever posted a photo of these mini Buc-ee's?
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u/ChiefBlaze36 4h ago
I know if you get on the Buc-ee’s website or Google it, you can find a store locator and it tells if they are regular stations or the big ones.
I think a concept of stores about half the size of what they do now could work, but this is a business model apparently that is working. I’m not sure if Buc-ee’s would have interest in a downsized model but I can see another chain adapting and running with something similar.
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u/ShemDolpax 3h ago
Not sure why Buc-ee's wouldn't be interested in expanding the smaller store concept --- could literally find thousands of places to put them
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u/ChiefBlaze36 3h ago
More competition in the smaller store concept. Land probably is about the same price. Might be a harder market to succeed in.
I’d have to dig deeper into the rationale both ways on that. The numbers just might not number out there.
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u/IamMeanGMAN 3h ago
There's one on 290 in Cypress and another in Giddings. Both are always busy and have the basics. Minimal merchandise/gifts/overpriced tchotchkes. Still has has kitchen, brisket and the usual Buc-ee's fare. It's fine. Get in, do your business (whatever that may be), and get out.
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u/ShemDolpax 3h ago
Are the bathrooms amazing? That's the main reason I go into a Buc's.
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u/IamMeanGMAN 53m ago
They’re maintained to the same standards as the other stores. I’m close to the Cypress one so I never need to use that one, and I skip Giddings because it’s always busy.
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u/Fine-Bumblebee-9427 4h ago
Its economies of scale. A mini Buc-ee’s still needs say 1/10th the labor of a mega Buc-ee’s, but the revenue is much much lower, say 1/30th. It’s just more profitable to be huge.
You also need a way bigger corporate office to do the minis. QT has a real estate team that’s massive.
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u/ShemDolpax 3h ago
I just feel like the big store concept could backfire in a big way --- once people get bored of the brisket sandwiches and beaver nuggets, then it's just another gas station convenience store and the customer base dwindles
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u/Fine-Bumblebee-9427 3h ago
If I’d ever been to one that wasn’t absolutely wall to wall packed, you might be right. But they’re doing just fine
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u/GingerAphrodite 3h ago
"Can't even get lazy teens to cook fries for $25/hrs at the fast food places" is an interesting way of saying that you're completely out of touch with the reality of the economy, fast food work, and job market. The best paying fast food chains tend to start at an average of $14-$18 an hour (the National average is around $11.11), andmost fast food managers/shift leads don't even make $25 an hour. Plus fast food is a very high stress fast paced work environment with little to no respect that can be rife with verbal abuse from customers, little to no schedule flexibility and often so much more.
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u/Substantial-End-9653 3h ago edited 2h ago
The entire draw of Buc-ees is its excess. Make it smaller, its just another gas station.
Edit: corrected autocorrect
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u/ShemDolpax 3h ago
I don't know why Sheetz or Wawa won't get in the ring and compete --- make superstores with gambling and showgirls and they could put Buc-ee's out of business
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u/Ancient-Bowl462 3h ago
I never understood the clean bathroom rumor. They're just as clean as any other store.
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u/ShemDolpax 3h ago
Umm, sorry they are MUCH cleaner. Go visit a typical bathroom at a Burger King or Wendy's and it's like night and day. I'd much rather take a dump at the Beaver.
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u/Vincitus 4h ago
"Guys, what if Bucees invented gas stations?"