NEW BRAUNFELS, TX – Buc-ee’s Convenience Store opened its newest location in New Braunfels Monday, and at 68,000 square feet, it’s now the biggest Buc-ee’s ever.
The big sign on I-35 says “Exit Now.” Lots of drivers did, judging by the 50 gas pumps.
“Oh, I had never heard of Buc-ee’s before,” customer Lorraine Reazin says.
General manager Dan Parkinson is acting as the store’s ambassador.
“It’s never too late to correct the errors of your ways,” he tells first-time visitors.
His tour starts with the restroom.
"Next step in the phase of us taking over the world, one clean restroom at a time,” Parkinson says. “And this is the reason why people come. Isn't that right?”
It makes sense. Road warriors want to stop somewhere clean.
"I'll wait until everybody comes out of the bathroom and I'll go in each one and clean it,” employee Marcus Santos says.
He’s part of the team of employees in charge of the sinks, floors and 50 stalls.
They take pride in knowing each seat is clean every time a new person sits down.
"I think they're pretty amazing,” 11-year-old customer McKinzey McCabe says. “Once you come in, you see the bathroom and you think I gotta go use theirs, they're clean.”
Employees even joke the floor is so clean, customers could eat off it.
"I think they have mints in the urinals is what they were telling me,” Parkinson says. “They were that clean."
The toilet humor proves Buc-ee isn’t your average beaver, or convenience store.
“We’re having so much fun there should be a two-drink minimum here today,” Parkinson says.
With all the foot traffic, it’s hard to know where to look.
The grocery department has fruit on one end and fudge on the other.
An area full of Texas merchandise offers “Made in Texas” clothing and collectibles.
So is everything bigger in Buc-ee’s?
"That's for sure. This store is huge,” Phil Davis of Conway, MO, says.
And it has one huge lesson: don’t mess with Texas, or its toilets.
