If you’ve ever been to a Buc-ee’s, you know that they’re…pretty darn awesome!
Clean bathrooms.
Pumps seemingly as far as the eye can see.
Homemade barbecue.
Fudge. Beaver Nuggets. Beaver chips.
The list goes on…
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Buc-ee’s is able to deliver such an amazing experience for two reasons:
1) Each individual store is big. (Upwards of 50,000 square feet – larger than your typical grocery store!) You can just fit…a TON of stuff in each Buc-ee’s. (And even more in the world’s largest Buc-ee’s…)
2) It’s a small, privately-held chain. Just 60 stores (with more planned), no franchising.
That enables a consistency of experience that’s really impressive.
However…
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Talk to fans of any of these convenience stores, and they’ll tell you they’re even better than Buc-ee’s.
Why?
Great food. Great service. Small footprint! (So you can get in and, you know, get out and back on the road quickly.)
And please note…
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Like Buc-ee’s, these are mostly regional brands that are in expansion mode.
You may not have tried all of them yet. But if you’ve been waiting for a reason to branch out from your local Shell or Exxon…or even Buc-ee’s…this is that excuse.
On to the list!
Starting with…
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Where you’ll find them: Wawa has about 1,100 locations, mostly centered in the Northeastern United States (think Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York) – although they’ve expanded aggressively into Virginia and elsewhere, and they’re gradually creeping further South as well.
Why they’re better: Great prepared food (hoagies, mac ‘n cheese, Sizzlis), great selection in a small and efficient footprint, rabid fans, excellent rewards program. (Buc-ee’s has none.)
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Where you’ll find them: Sheetz has a little under 800 locations, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic and eastern Midwest (think places like Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia).
Why they’re better: Amazing French Fries + great coffee bar (or prepared if you prefer), clean bathrooms, fantastic frozen selection, great rewards program.
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Where you’ll find them: Over 1,000 locations, primarily in the South and Midwest (majority of locations are in Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas).
Why they’re better: Excellent customer service and bathrooms, great selection of food on rollers, small and efficient footprint, great gas prices.
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Where you’ll find them: Only in Texas! Fuel City has just seven locations, all in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Why they’re better: Tacos! (Their tacos really are excellent. So are their fried pies.) Also great daiquiris and Little Caesars pizza, which admittedly isn’t anything to write home about, but an upgrade from your typical gas station fare for sure. They also have a separate entrance for big trucks, which is a nice amenity for truck drivers.
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Where you’ll find them: Stewart’s is a true regional chain, with a couple hundred locations centered in Upstate New York and Vermont. (To give you a sense of things – the largest number of Stewart’s locations are in Schenectady – this is a true small-town shop!)
Why they’re better: Ice cream, for one. Their ice cream is amazing. Also, because they’re so small and focused on small towns, you get a friendlier atmosphere than you usually expect in the Northeast.
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Where you’ll find them: 82 total locations, centered in Eastern Tennessee.
Why they’re better: It’s all about the baked goods. They’ve got great doughnuts and muffins, and because it’s Tennessee, their fried chicken is amazing as well.
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Where you’ll find them: Rutter’s has 86 stores centered in Pennsylvania, with outposts in the West Virginia panhandle and North-Central Maryland.
Why they’re better: Rutter’s has a food service counter that is a clear step up from what you usually get at a gas station. You can get seafood, burgers, great breakfast food (bowls, breakfast pizza, hashbrown wraps, etc.), and even funnel cake fries and cannolis for dessert. Yes please!
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Where you’ll find them: Love’s rest stops are in 42 states, including Texas, so even deep in Buc-ee’s country folks have probably had a chance to try them.
Why they’re better: Love’s prides itself on something that’ll sound familiar: Clean bathrooms and great service. And I can say from personal experience that they consistently deliver on that promise. Plus, they’re generally truck stops, they’re pretty big and full of variety.
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Where you’ll find them: Kwik Trip is in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota – so a distinctly Midwest / Plains states chain.
Why they’re better: Not to be confused with Quik Trip, Kwik Trip is absolutely beloved in its service area for its excellent, cheap hot food, including their delicious pork rib sandwich, chicken sandwich and cheeseburgers, donuts, baked goods, burritos, and more.
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Where you’ll find them: Nine states (so far), but with loads more coming!
Why they’re better: I couldn’t leave without giving Buc-ee’s its due. From its delicious food to its amazing merch, Buc-ee’s is a truly unique experience!
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So there you have it – nine convenience stores fans will swear up and down are better than Buc-ee’s.
Of course, it’s hard to try ALL of them – you’d have to travel all the way from Texas to upstate New York, and everything in between.
Nonetheless…
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The fact remains that none of them is QUITE like Buc-ee’s.
It’s just a totally unique experience, mostly (let’s be honest) because of its incredible size. (Again, the new ones are mostly 70,000+ square feet!)
And with competition heating up…
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You’ve probably had a chance to try at least one of these competitors.
Maybe even more.
And with most of these gas stations expanding, you’ll get even more opportunities in the years ahead.
Which leads me to the big question…
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Is Buc-ee’s still the best?
Or has one of these competitors dethroned them?
Let us know in the comments!
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