Buc-ee's owner excited to bring a piece of Texas to Goodyear
The Brief
The long-awaited debut of Buc-ee's in Arizona is getting closer and closer.
Groundbreaking for the location in Goodyear has already started and owner Arch "Beaver" Alpin III is excited to bring the store's Texas flare to the West Valley.
The store is known for its unique snacks like beaver nuggets, fresh barbecue and fudge made on-site.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - A long-awaited day in the West Valley as Buc-ee's officially breaks ground this morning on its first-ever travel center in Arizona.
A piece of Texas, planting roots in the Valley.
Buc-ees gas station groundbreaking in Goodyear on Bullard Avenue, just south of the Interstate 10, is creating a buzz.
What they're saying
A couple passerbys shared their thoughts:
"I'll probably stop to see what it's all about, yeah."
"Yeah, we would probably go there just to check it out, maybe on our cheat day. Yeah, sounds like fun."
What we know
The mega-gas station will sit on 71 acres of land and the retail store is expected to be more than 74,000 square feet.
"This, you know, this was just a beautiful location here in a new area, growing so fast. So we just think it's ideal that the opportunities for the workforce here, the people that live here, were really excited about that opportunity also," said Arch "Beaver" Aplin III, the owner of Buc-ee's.
Known for it's unique snacks like beaver nuggets, fresh BBQ and fudge made on-site to it's beaver mascot, Buc-ee's will have 120 fueling stations and bring more than 200 full-time jobs to the area.
What's next
"I hope they leave with the experience that we exceeded their expectations and then they tell their friends and neighbors," said Aplin. "The next time they're traveling they see your sign. You know, we like to do the quirky billboards so they see a sign and they know it's coming so that's what comes of it."
Buc-ee's is expecting the travel center to be up and running in June of next year, ready to serve Arizonans and those driving by.
"We're bringing Texas barbeque to Arizona. We'll be here in a year. Get ready!" said Aplin.
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They converged this past week as part of successful lobbying efforts to build off of Florida's I-75 highway in the city of Port Charlotte. It has received initial commission backing, partly in the form of a rezoning. "From the time we put a shovel in the ground to the time we open the door will be two years," Buc-ee's Director of Real Estate Stan Beard said. Buc-ee's travel center has a beaver, jerky and fudge Founded in 1982, bulky Buc-ee's features an embraceable beaver with a ball cap as its mascot, typically 120 or so gas pumps and the cleanest bathrooms in America as part of what the company calls a travel center. Every Buc-ee's has a wide variety of meat jerky taking up a wall, roasted nuts and other culinary delights — like its signature Buc-ee's Beaver Nuggets (similar to caramel popcorn), brisket and sausage on a stick. It has its own fudge counter, and also offers home decor and clothing in its inventory. Based on architectural sketches requested by Naples Daily News, the expanse could have room for more than 850 vehicles between the pumps, the vacuuming and washing slots and parking places that include those for the disabled or with electric vehicles. Schematics show a parking stall ratio of one for every 90 square feet of building area in the southwest corner of the exit. While it got initial backing May 27 through preliminary measures by the commission, Buc-ee's needs to finalize plans and put in a formal request. How large will Southwest Florida's Buc-ee's be? How will it rank? Beard said the square footage would make it among the giants in an exclusive club: "The Port Charlotte store is no larger than our other 'large store' locations. Depending upon how the jurisdiction measures, Port Charlotte will be plus/minus 74,000 square feet." That would make it close to 40% larger than his two other Florida operations. 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"All of our plans will encompass the roundabout and the transition from the roundabout ― four-laned roundabout ― (and) we will complete all of that work before we open a door, after we get all the entitlements, after we get all the plans. After we get all the environmental green lights. We put a shovel in the ground, I don't know, six months from now, nine months from now." Is Buc-ee's paying for roadwork? "The preliminary FDOT layout for the interchange ― all of those improvements will be constructed and paid for by Buc-ee's, constructed and paid for by Buc-ee's," Beard said, repeating himself for emphasis. "We are putting in huge amounts. "A lot of developers would come in and say, 'Let's see what we can get away with, whatever.' What we're going to do is build what we need to build to bring a Buc-ee's here. (The) last thing Buc-ee's wants is a traffic problem." What percentage of customers will come via interstate highway? "It's more like 96% of our traffic," Beard said. "It's already on I-75. We're stopping them. They're coming off an offramp that we are improving, that we are widening, that we are lengthening, that will go into a signaled intersection at that interchange, that we are widening, that we are signalizing at our cost. They will get on, go west. They will not go past the roundabout that we are building, that we are paying for at our entrance. They will go into our store. "They will leave that store. They will get back on the system that we have built, per FDOT requirements that we have built and paid for, and they will head their way down the street. (It) is difficult to envision the scale of improvements that we're putting on the ground. People think, 'Oh my God, they're bringing all of this traffic, these thousands of cars an hour, a day, a week or whatever.' But they're seeing it on the (existing) infrastructure that's there." What do you say on environmental concerns? The "decision will impact Charlotte County forever, (and) doing so will exacerbate storm surge during hurricanes, causing neglectful harm," said Florida resident Laura Johnson. "Past hurricanes have dumped debris and chemicals into the river, adding to its impaired status. Any commercial development here is reckless. I like Buc-ee's. It's a commercial development not appropriate for that land. The river is an economic and environmental resource. "Recent flooding has been catastrophic." What does Buc-ee's say on possible environmental contamination? "The (oil) tanks are double-walled, multiple sensors," Scott Ratcliff, Buc-ee's director of engineering, said of underground elements. "They reside within a fuel pit and above and beyond the normal monitoring that is required by state law, Buc-ee's has taken upon themselves to do additional monitoring of any water that seeps into this tank pit. We have oil water separators that remove any water, groundwater or infiltration water that enters the pit. "It is separated from any hydrocarbons, and those can be evacuated from the system before entering into the water table or into the receiving waters for downstream. As it relates to surface, the average 1980 old beater that's out in the parking lot, dripping oil in the parking lot, we have installed and will install in this project, oil water separator that separate the hydrocarbons from any runoff that comes off of the parking field." What about storm surge possibility? "Our owner is concerned about that very same exact issue so that's why we've made the request for the five feet because we want to be above the surge elevation, based upon the most recent storms," Ratcliff said of planned height. 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Those elements, along with the things that we're putting in the ground to protect any element that might leak out or any element that might spill on the pavement is deemed to try, to the best of our abilities, to capture anything that comes off of our parking lot." What is the economic impact on Southwest Florida? Buc-ee's will "employ 200, maybe 300 full-time jobs, paying 20 bucks an hour, with full benefits," Beard said. Added Todd Mathes, director of development for Benderson company, which owns the property plus land throughout Collier and Lee counties. "They're going to have a transformational impact on sales tax receipts (and) on gas tax receipts, gas tax used to build roads." But there's work ahead, and Buc-ee's could always drop plans, as it previously did in its neighboring Lee County. "It's not a done deal," said Shaun Cullinan, who heads Charlotte's planning and zoning. "I've been saying repeatedly, Buc-ee's is a contract purchase. They may back out." Not all leaders are sold on Buc-ee's plans Deutsch is the only one of five commissioners who has voted against at least a couple of Buc-ee's related measures. "The most single precious thing we have in Charlotte County is the Peace River, and as much as I would love to see Buc-ee's here, I just can't find myself to vote for it this close to the river. There's gotta be some other places, (and) I'd love to see it. "I just can't vote for it here because my concerns about that chance of an environmental or further destruction of the river. (Never) hearing about Buc-ee's a year ago, I sort of became a believer. I think it's really neat. I'd love to see it here in Charlotte County because I think it would be an asset to the community. The traffic issues that have come up, I don't think they're going to be anywhere near severe as some (say)." Based at the Naples Daily News, columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@ grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
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