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Buc-ee’s superfans were left heartbroken after the original location of the iconic chain was destroyed in a massive Monday fire.
Emergency services from multiple agencies responded to the blaze around 10.30am at the store in Luling, Texas, and blocked off the area as fire crews fought to control the blaze.
Photos shared online by the Luling Fire Department showed enormous plumes of smoke, contrasting with the chain’s happy, smiling beaver mascot.
Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management later said that the fire had been extinguished and that clean-up operations were underway, though advised the public to avoid the area if possible. No further information has been released as to the cause of the blaze.
The original Buc-ee’s building opened more than two decades ago in 2003, but was replaced by a brand new center, directly across the road, which opened on June 10.
At 75,000-square-foot with 120 gas pumps, the new Buc-ees is the largest convenience store in the world. Over 200 people will be employed there, providing “thousands of snack, meal and drink options for travelers on the go,” the company told USA Today.
The American chain of enormous gas stations and general stores has become known for roadside snacks – featuring BBQ brisket sandwiches and its signature Beaver Nuggets – as well as the “world’s cleanest bathrooms” and the “friendliest” beaver mascot. Over the years it has attracted a cult following across the states.
"The new Buc-ee’s Luling will be the largest Buc-ee’s location in the country, bringing the largest Buc-ee’s back where the legend began," the company said in a press release last month, prior to the fire.
The previous record-holding Buc-ee’s in Sevierville, Tennessee, which also has 120 pumps, 22 electric vehicle charging stations, and a 250-foot-long car wash within its 74,707 square foot location.
A new location is scheduled to break ground along Interstate 75 near Ocala, Florida, next year.
While it was initially reported that the Florida chain was set to break Luling’s record at a staggering 80,000 square feet, the company maintained that the largest convenience store will remain in its home state of Texas.
"Buc-ee’s is currently in the design and permitting phase for a 74,000 square foot-store in Ocala, FL, which is our largest store model outside the state of Texas,” Stan Beard, Buc-ee’s director of real estate and development, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal on June 7.
"Regarding square footage, the largest store outside of Texas will not exceed 74,000 square feet.”
Buc-ee’s travel center was founded in 1982 in Texas, and began its expansion across the US in 2018 with the opening of a location in Alabama.
The company has since opened 14 other locations in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Colorado. Earlier this year, Buc-ee’s announced the opening of its first location in North Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
