LAKE JACKSON, Texas, Aug. 25 (Our Texas Times) — Buc-ee’s is continuing to expand, but its chief executive says the Texas-based travel-center chain is placing greater value on states and communities whose leaders support business growth and family-oriented policies.
Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, Buc-ee’s co-founder, president and CEO, made the comments Aug. 17 at the grand opening of the company’s Benton, Arkansas, location. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared video of the remarks.
The comments do not amount to a formal announcement that Buc-ee’s will stop building in Democratic-led or so-called blue states. Aplin said the company has “a lot of opportunities” and is “building in a lot of places.” But he also said the attitudes of local and state leaders can influence where the company chooses to invest.
What did the CEO say?
Aplin said Buc-ee’s looks for “a conservative, business-friendly state with a phenomenal workforce,” adding that such conditions “make a difference.”
He also said he was becoming reluctant to build in places where residents or leaders did not appreciate what Buc-ee’s brings. He contrasted those locations with Benton, where he said the company’s investment was welcomed.
Aplin linked that preference to state and local leadership. He said a “conservative, business-friendly, family-oriented concept” works better when those ideas come from government leaders and extend through local communities.
Sanders, who attended the opening, endorsed the message in a public post. “Life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing,” she wrote, quoting Aplin.
Where is Buc-ee’s expanding?
Buc-ee’s had 58 locations when the Benton store opened, according to the company’s website. Thirty-seven of those locations were in Texas, according to the company’s location information.
The chain’s planned growth includes first locations in Louisiana, Kansas and Wisconsin by the end of 2027, according to Buc-ee’s expansion information. The company also lists projects in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Arkansas for 2027, 2028, 2029 and later years.
Buc-ee’s is known for large travel centers that combine fuel, food, restrooms and retail merchandise. Its expansion requires decisions by the company, local governments and communities over sites, construction, roads and other infrastructure. The supplied company information does not provide a total investment amount for the planned projects.
What does the shift mean for workers and communities?
For communities selected by Buc-ee’s, a new store can bring construction work and permanent jobs. It can also increase traffic and demand for public services around a large roadside development. The research available for this report does not include companywide employment figures, projected tax collections or detailed economic-impact estimates.
Workers and job seekers may see new opportunities in states where Buc-ee’s builds. Customers may gain another option for fuel, food and travel services. Existing businesses could face increased competition, although the available information does not measure that effect.
For state and local governments, Aplin’s remarks highlight the importance the company places on its relationship with public officials. They also suggest that a community’s political and business climate may be part of Buc-ee’s site-selection considerations, alongside workforce and development issues.
Is Buc-ee’s leaving blue states?
The remarks support a preference, not a completed withdrawal or a blanket policy barring stores in blue states. Some coverage described the comments as a shift away from blue states, but Aplin did not announce that Buc-ee’s would end all projects in those states.
The company’s current operating footprint and the political classifications of the states where it operates are not fully documented in the primary materials available here. What is clear is that Buc-ee’s remains in an expansion phase and that its CEO says supportive leadership and a strong workforce can affect where future locations are built.
For Texas, the strategy matters because the state remains the company’s largest base. With 37 of the 58 reported locations in Texas, Buc-ee’s expansion decisions will continue to shape a company closely associated with its home state, even as new stores are planned across the country.
