Is Buc-ee’s making the American Dream come true?

Confession: I don’t really like Buc-ee’s. I’m sorry. Am I going to get kicked out of Texas now?

I understand why it’s popular and even why our readers flock to updates about the gas-station, convenience store mashup that makes the King of Gas Stations, 7-Eleven, jealous. Sure, I’ll stop in if I need gas or even those roasted almonds — not the Beaver Nuggets, the ones in the warm paper cones. Or if my kids beg me, I will.

But it’s so massive and crowded, I feel like I’m in a Costco parking lot on a Saturday and I’m not even getting the benefit of bulk items. The western goods are gauche — longhorn prints in the bathrooms? — and the shredded pork BBQ sandwich is salty and subpar. Who screws up BBQ in Texas?

Did I mention the crowds? Almost 12,000 cars a day visited this Georgia Buc-ee’s location Christmas week last year.

Still, when I saw Senator John Cornyn tweeted this poster advertising just what employees at Buc-ee’s make, I was impressed. Some positions, like general manager, garner six-figure wages and an employee in the car wash department can make $20 an hour. Employees get three weeks off, a 100% 401k match up to 6% and can work part-time as well. Not bad in this economy.

Buc-cee’s has quite a story. Two Texans, Arch “Beaver” Aplin III and his business partner Don Wasek, opened the first one 40 years ago. But they’ve really gained traction in the last decade in Texas, where most of the 40 plus locations thrive, though there’s a handful in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Buc-ee’s isn’t publicly traded and doesn’t offer franchises, according to news reports, so that it “can continue to focus on the customers instead of the bottom line.” Even I can see they get that right. The company is worth a reported $500 million. Not bad for two Texans who aimed at creating a gas station meets convenience store focused on “cheap ice” and those sparkly clean bathrooms.

No wonder the one on Interstate 35W in far north Fort Worth is building a $6 million car wash tunnel; anything to get customers to linger a little longer. They spend more, use the bathroom more, and incentivize the company to hire more.

As much as I feel claustrophobic in a Buc-ee’s and struggle to choose which pump to park at, given there seems to be more pump choices than seats at AT & T stadium, it’s hard not to appreciate a company that pays gas station and convenience store employees nice wages and impressive benefits. Plus, we know they’re working in a clean environment full of snacks too. That has to be worth some happiness. The American dream might feel hard to come by these last few years, but it seems to be thriving at Buc-ee’s thanks to two hardworking Texans. Beaver Nuggets, anyone?