First Buc-ee’s travel center along Route 66 planned in Springfield, Missouri

The Route 66 corridor appears to finally be getting a Buc-ee’s convenience store, and it’s coming to Springfield, Missouri.

The Springfield News-Leader reported the huge travel center will be built at Mulroy Road and Interstate 44 on the city’s northeast edge. Mulroy Road intersects with old Route 66 on the south side of the interstate.

Buc-ee’s director of real estate told the newspaper the company would break ground later this year and open 12 to 15 months later.

Known for its large stores, specialized merchandise, and very clean bathrooms — Buc-ee’s will become a tourist attraction for Springfield, according to City Manager Jason Gage.
“It’s a tremendous amount of customer traffic that will be at this interchange to provide economic benefit for our community. Buc-ee’s is an incredible retail generator, and it’s not just about the gas. There’s a bit of a cult following for the products inside the walls and there’s a lot of square footage and products inside the walls. The sales… are very, very high.” […]
According to a city presentation, 88 percent of Buc-ee’s customers come from 20 miles or more away from their stores and on average spend more than $100 per visit.
After opening, the travel center will employ more than 200 southwest Missourians — with salaries between 15 and 17 dollars an hour.

The city council is weighing about $8.5 million in infrastructure improvements and reimbursements to Buc-ee’s. Most city councilors said they would vote in favor of the incentives.

Buc-ee’s, a privately owned company that is marking its 40th anniversary this year, is based in Texas, though no locations have been set up in the Texas Panhandle, where Route 66 traverses. It has a total of 40 locations in Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, with more being developed in Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Texas Monthly magazine two years ago published a good article that outlines the wide appeal of Buc-ee’s. Lest you think the Springfield city manager is being overly effusive about the store’s arrival, read this:

But Buc-ee’s has a reputation far greater than its store count. It has become the rare brand—like Apple and Costco—that inspires loyalty that goes well beyond rational consumer calculations. People love Buc-ee’s, and they like to talk about how much they love Buc-ee’s. When the company opened its New Braunfels location, in 2012, ten thousand people came to shop on the first day. When the company opened its Fort Worth location, in 2016, fans lined up to wait for the 6 a.m. grand opening like Black Friday deal-seekers trying to nab a cheap 4K TV. When the comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan stopped at a Buc-ee’s, in 2015, he became an instant convert, posting a string of ecstatic Instagram videos showing the towering wall of candies and endless rows of gas pumps. “I’m not making any of this up!” Rogan shouted. Texas chefs have expressed their devotion to various Buc-ee’s-branded snacks. (The restaurateur Ford Fry, who owns La Lucha, in Houston, called Buc-ee’s “the gold standard for road-trip junk food.”) Texas-themed social media routinely post Buc-ee’s content. As the Texas Humor Twitter account wrote in 2016: “If you bypass gas stations because you’re waiting to stop at Buc-ee’s instead, you’re definitely from Texas.”

Buc-ee’s appears to be the heir apparent of Stuckey’s and, more recently, QuikTrip.

A number of people got fooled last year by an elaborate internet prank where it appeared Buc-ee’s would be building a store in El Reno, Oklahoma. Clicking on the website’s “Apply Here” button gave you a RickRoll instead. The rumors were so persistent, El Reno’s mayor felt forced to make a statement debunking it.

(Image of a Buc-ee’s in Terrell, Texas, by lee leblanc via Flickr)