MARATHON, Texas (KXAN) — West Texas now has its own Buc-ee’s — but not really.
A baby Buc-ee’s popped up in the West Texas desert recently, but it’s not actually a store (in case that wasn’t obvious) about 25 miles east of Marathon. It’s an art installation, much like the Prada display near Valentine and the former Target installation near Marathon.
Texas Rep. Brooks Landgraf from Odessa snapped some shots of the “store” and posted them on Facebook.
Naturally, his constituents were curious and peppered him with questions. He obliged and said it appears to be “an old phone-line service shack” on the Sanderson Highway.
While you won’t find Beaver Nuggets, brisket sandwiches or immaculate bathrooms at this location, Landgraf said he talked to the “Beaver” himself about getting the real deal in the Permian Basin.
He replied to several people excited at the thought of Buc-ee’s coming to West Texas with this:
“I spoke with ‘Beaver’ Aplin, the co-founder of Buc-ee’s, a few weeks ago and let him know that West Texans would welcome his stores with open arms. As the company continues to grow, I expect we’ll see Buc-ee’s along I-20 in the Permian Basin someday in the future, but they’ll have to fill in the gap first.”
Buc-ee’s is growing north and east with stores in Alabama, Florida and Georgia with more locations being built in both Tennessee and Kentucky. According to the company, the store in Sevierville, Tennessee will overtake the New Braunfels store as the largest convenience store in the world upon completion. The new location will be a whopping 77,000 square feet.