The opening marked another milestone for the Texas-born company as it continues an aggressive expansion beyond its home state.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sen. Tom Cotton were among those attending the celebration. Sanders later highlighted Aplin’s remarks on social media.
And Aplin did not mince words about what Buc-ee’s is looking for as the company considers its next round of investments.
“We have a lot of opportunities. We’re growing. We’re building in a lot of places, but when you find a conservative, business-friendly state with a phenomenal workforce, it makes a difference,” Aplin said. “And I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing versus a place like this, where people do appreciate what you’re building.
His comments offered a revealing glimpse into how one of America’s most recognizable travel-center brands views the political and economic environment surrounding expansion.
For Buc-ee’s, attracting a new store apparently involves more than finding enough land near a busy highway. State and local leadership — and the attitude government officials take toward private enterprise — can play a major role.
Aplin suggested that the approach taken by Arkansas represents the kind of environment his company wants to encounter elsewhere.
“So that leadership, that concept, that idea of conservative, business-friendly, family-oriented concept works so much better if it trickles down from the very leadership. From the very top at the governor’s office, at the congressman, at the senator, at the mayor (and) the representatives,” he continued.
Aplin also praised Benton for creating a welcoming climate for business.
That could be significant as states and cities compete for future Buc-ee’s projects. A new location is far more than another roadside convenience store. Buc-ee’s massive travel centers can become destinations in their own right, drawing motorists with enormous fueling areas, sprawling retail floors, food counters and the chain’s famous beaver branding.
The company’s roots stretch back more than four decades.
Aplin and Don Wasek founded Buc-ee’s in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. For years, the company concentrated overwhelmingly on its home territory, gradually turning Buc-ee’s into a Texas institution.
Eventually, however, the beaver began moving beyond the Lone Star State.
Buc-ee’s opened its first location outside Texas in Baldwin County, Alabama, in 2019. That move kicked off a much broader expansion strategy that has carried the brand into communities across the country.
The Benton opening became Buc-ee’s 58th location and its first in Arkansas, bringing the company’s presence to 14 states. Texas continues to contain most of its stores, but the geographic map is changing quickly.
The company has expanded into states including Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Missouri, Mississippi and Virginia, while newer openings have pushed the brand into Ohio and Arizona as well.
And Buc-ee’s is nowhere near finished.
Another location in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is expected to open in November, while the company’s pipeline for the coming years stretches across several additional states.
Projects planned for 2027 include locations in Ruston, Louisiana; Kansas City, Kansas; Gallaway, Tennessee; St. Lucie, Florida; Boerne, Texas; and Monroe County, Georgia. Buc-ee’s is also preparing to make its debut in Wisconsin.
The company’s longer-range expansion plans include Mebane, North Carolina, and Lafayette, Louisiana, in 2028.
Additional projects are slated for Ocala, Florida, and West Memphis, Arkansas, in 2029, while Hardeeville, South Carolina, is currently listed further down the road for 2031.
That pipeline illustrates just how dramatically Buc-ee’s has transformed from a Texas roadside favorite into a growing national brand.
But Aplin’s Arkansas remarks added another factor for states hoping to land one of the company’s enormous travel centers.
Buc-ee’s isn’t simply searching for highway traffic and available real estate.
Its CEO is openly signaling that a conservative, family-oriented and business-friendly governing environment can make a state considerably more attractive.
For Republican-led states competing to bring new employers and investment into their communities, that is likely a message they will be happy to hear.
