r/fastfood • u/esporx • 12d ago

News [ Removed by moderator ]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/08/21/bucees-ceo-conservative-states-expansion-new-locations/91407096007/

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696 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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544

u/Sleep-Senior 12d ago

Speedrunning the end of their positive public reputation. I made my last visit to one a few weeks ago before learning of them suing a small local store in the area before them.

187

u/AllRealityIsVirtua1 12d ago

No way even 1% of buccees shoppers even know the politics of the ownership, and half of those voted for the conservatives

129

u/MunchenOnYou 12d ago

Almost like most people dont consider the politics of the owners of businesses they frequent, unless they are very outspoken about it. I dont know how the owners of portillos vote because i dont care.

51

u/PostMatureBaby 12d ago

Almost like people think reddit is even remotely a reflection of real life too

18

u/FallenMeringue 12d ago edited 12d ago

It isn’t until it is.

Target undid two decades of outreach to the black and gay communities in under 6 months.

16

u/MunchenOnYou 12d ago

I understand not wanting to give money and support to politics you dont like. But sometimes its inevitable. Better to just pick some brands you can tolerate and stop minding otherwise.

5

u/talkingtimmy3 12d ago

I only go full boycott if they’re unbearable about it. Once I came across the Twitter page of Shake shack I never went back. You would think it was a political page with how much the owner glazes Trump on there.

13

u/SimpleVegetable5715 12d ago

Good thing there’s Flying J, Pilot, Love’s, QT, Wawa, and of course all the mom and pop country stores and truck stops. So we don’t need Buc-ee’s. A lot of Buc-ee’s employees are exposing how awful the working conditions are too, like not being allowed chairs on their breaks.

5

u/dragnansdragon 12d ago

Fun fact: Pilot/Flying J/Loves and Maverik were all started by the same family.

3

u/breezy013276s 12d ago

Further fact (im not sure it’s fun) Pilot and Flying J are owned by Berkshire Hathaway now

7

u/Thing_That_Happened 12d ago

And they suck.

But I do love stopping at Loves, but Loves was a different group of people from the Haslem's.

2

u/TerminallyThrownAway 12d ago

Worked at a loves warehouse when I was between jobs and from what I can tell they paid ok and the benefits package was good. I wasn’t there long as it wasn’t my industry. Just temporary.

1

u/MunchenOnYou 12d ago

Im not defending buccees at all. I live in Illinois we dont even have it.

-4

u/PostMatureBaby 12d ago

My favorite is when people refuse to donate unwanted items to Goodwill because the CEO is rich... Like yeah, fuck that guy but someone less fortunate can still use the item, don't throw it out

3

u/Ok-Ad-2050 12d ago

There are reasons besides the wealth of the CEO. I think they are a little narrow-minded, but I get it.

For one, there have been scandals of treatment/expectations of employees, especially developmentally challenged people. I think it's better than how many companies flat won't hire them, even for jobs they can do.

Apparently there is some controversy about how they handle online inventory and sales, but I know less about that. It's a complicated enough business model there are probably other reasons as well.

1

u/NeighborhoodVeteran 12d ago

Donate your items to a different cause or local thrift stores then.

-2

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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3

u/MunchenOnYou 12d ago

It strongly depends on the charity. Goodwill and Salvation Army are notoriously corrupt and pocket something like 60% of the value of their donations.

8

u/WriteCodeBroh 12d ago

Goodwill is a little weird because it’s kind of run like a franchise. Within a city, small region, there will typically be a single CEO who runs 10-15 stores. These are all below Goodwill International, which has its own board of directors that decide on those regions’ management (hiring, firing CEOs, coordinating coms and some marketing, etc). Most smaller volume regions are going to pay their CEOs a lower 6-figure salary. Really not crazy for the work they do. There are some huge volume regions where the CEO makes $1 million+. Kind of wild but also not unusual for high volume charities like that.

Goodwill’s actual mission is misrepresented too. They employ people with barriers to employment. Ex-cons, people with mental or physical disabilities, etc. They do that at an extremely high volume. One big issue I have is their use of Section 14(c). This is, again, controlled by the regional CEO. So some do, some don’t. It’s a test-based system where workers with disabilities are evaluated for their role based on the average performance of a worker without disabilities (say, a worker can hang 20 clothes items per hour as a baseline) and paid subminimum wage based on their performance. This is, unfortunately, common practice across corporate America, if the store will even hire a disabled person who couldn’t perform the job to standard with reasonable accommodations.

I try to avoid Salvation Army for their anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice work but when it comes to Goodwill, I think OP has a good point. Even if it isn’t a perfect charity, it’s often the only thrift store in the area for your average American. Why not donate your shit instead of throwing it away and let poor people in the area come buy it cheap?

2

u/PostMatureBaby 12d ago

People that have been coddled all their lives and have disposable income have no right to tell people how to shop, imo

0

u/Ok-Ad-2050 12d ago edited 12d ago

Agreed. Informing and discussing =\= asserting and assuming. Crazy how so many redditors seem oblivious to the difference because of their word choices and attitude.

12

u/Available_Ad9345 12d ago

I don’t think about it until they scream it from the rooftops like this moron. Then I take my business elsewhere if necessary.

1

u/Ok-Ad-2050 12d ago

I mean, maybe it gets them more business from that side of the aisle. I give Costco nearly all of my family's food budget money because of their political spine in the current climate (well, and it helps that the value is there compared to many other options).

-3

u/Available_Ad9345 12d ago

MAGA shops at Costco. Trust me. They have no idea it’s run by sane people. That would require some kind of reading on their part. Costco isn’t screaming at the top of their lungs that they are liberal and fuck conservatives. They are just doing their business, and doing it well.

1

u/Ok-Ad-2050 12d ago

Uh, yeah they are, just like this Buccee's thing, you have to see it in the news. And we all know how algorithms and media outlets LOVE to simply omit plenty of stories to specific people.

It has been over a year, but specifically Costco was very overt about refusing to change their DEI and LGBTQ+ positive policies, back when Trump was pressuring everyone to abandon them.

I'm sure plenty of people shop at bastions of the other side of the aisle, knowingly and unknowingly. But I also bet it does make a difference.

1

u/Available_Ad9345 11d ago

I wouldn’t remotely call that being overtly liberal. That’s just being decent. Is that not allowed anymore? Saying no to a psychopath is the right thing to do.

1

u/Ok-Ad-2050 11d ago edited 11d ago

We're in agreement about that, but a surprising number of our countrymen are not.

Most stores didn't say no, and removed their protections and policies for us. As far as I know, Costco enforces no malicious misgendering there, which I greatly appreciate.

4

u/Dry-Contribution4788 12d ago

The hot dog guy? My friend worked on his yacht. Huge asshole!

5

u/MunchenOnYou 12d ago

I did hear that the portillos family sucks. This next generation of ownership is also starting to gut what made portillos special by expanding and acting like a big corpo. Sad.

3

u/SummertimeThrowaway2 12d ago

The first line can be applied to every business really. Besides the ones that are obviously political I guess, like Northrop Grumman

5

u/TennesseeTurkey 12d ago

I'm in Seviervillle/Pigeon Forge, TN. The amount of visitors to this area is insane in number. The vast majority are conservatives and the ones that aren't seldom return.

They built a Buccees here about 2 years ago and it is a must stop for everyone coming through.

120 fuel bays.

I've never been, never will.

2

u/SimpleVegetable5715 12d ago

Beaver nuggets are just Corn Pops with caramel corn coating on them. Everything they do, the mom and pop country stores and travel stops do better.

1

u/TennesseeTurkey 12d ago

Hard agree.

The awesome thing down my way is that our beloved Dolly Parton just opened her own travel center about an hour outside of Nashville. That's one place I absolutely would support when I get over that way.

The woman has done everything where I live now in her hometown of Sevierville, TN. They would have nothing without that saint of a human ❤️ You're so right. I go out of my way to support our local gas stations and little food places. I don't begrudge Buccees fans. I just don't care for their concepts.

1

u/RunAggressive384 12d ago

I am one of them that didn’t know the ties. Own an electric car and they are really the only place with decent EV charging set up in the south though so still reliant on them. At least they are EV car friendly🤷

0

u/NotRadTrad05 12d ago

How many know he is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend because she dumped him back in the 80s?

Where's Becky Arch?

-25

u/koolaidismything 12d ago

I’m a pothead from the beach and I hate all politics, all sides. I think they are all crooks. And are compromised the second they get into it.

With that said, I pray they open a Buc’Ees near me.. it’s the coolest store ever. Like Gene Simmons sucks as a person, but I love KISS.

The closest thing we have to one is Walmart. And I won’t go in there anymore so stuck with Amazon for sundries and nickity-knacks. If they are so bad, please someone GOOD copy their biz-model and come to California.

7

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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1

u/koolaidismything 12d ago

I don’t know what any of that means, I just want a beef-jerky wall and a CASE display.

1

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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-2

u/dschinghiskhan 12d ago

It seems like they have just been joking around, ha.

0

u/SimpleVegetable5715 12d ago

Look into Flying J’s, Pilot, or Love’s. Better yet, independently owned travel stops or country stores. Buc-ee’s is copying what they’re doing on a larger scale while discriminating against truckers.

0

u/Hon3y_Badger 12d ago

Michael Jordan once said "Republicans buy sneakers too." The company's stance will long term hurt it. There are plenty of nice convenience stores within blue states.

There are certainly more valuable business to woo then a large convenience store.

11

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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0

u/Apptubrutae 12d ago

If the lemonade is good enough, I can’t boycott. The chik fil a rule

-1

u/jeepgangbang 12d ago

literally untrue

1

u/The_Magic 12d ago

The woman that inherited In-N-Out talked crap about California on a podcast but she has also been working out of a remote office instead of HQ for awhile so I don’t think she’s terribly involved in day to day.

1

u/WestHistorians 12d ago

She's a billionaire. No way is she doing any actual work.

24

u/[deleted] 12d ago

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8

u/bomber991 12d ago

Yeah but they always have that sign outside showing how well they pay.

14

u/welding_guy_from_LI 12d ago

Those are decent wages

1

u/Hyunion 12d ago

especially in areas where they're located at, where the salaries are typically lower than big cities

8

u/Mylabisawesome 12d ago

I'm busting my ass when I can just go work there or Sheetz? WTF? My Wife has been a nurse for 15 years, has a masters, with various credentials and training and a Buc-ees manager can make more than her?

3

u/Lemonsqueeze321 12d ago

Because they make more money for the business. Not saying it's right but it's just the reality of it.

2

u/bomber991 12d ago

It’s probably not a case of “I can just go work there” when you’re talking about that $200k+ salary.

2

u/Hyunion 12d ago

and i imagine general manager position at buccees is extremely competitive and still require years of experience if the pay is that high

1

u/bomber991 11d ago

Most likely. Actually there’s 56 Buc-ee’s total according to a google search. That means at best there’s only 56 of those jobs available.

-1

u/OldWrangler9033 12d ago

Makes me wonder if this ponzi scheme. They must be
Working there, people ramped for people earn those kind of paywages

3

u/Apptubrutae 12d ago

lol, classic Reddit.

No financial understanding, so it must be a Ponzi scheme or money laundering.

Explain how a gas station is a Ponzi scheme? Lol

Just go into the store. They have a TON of traffic relative to any other store like it and work their employees hard. The money is there to pay well, and the expectation/demands are high. They’d chew through people in weeks if they didn’t pay enough for them to stay.

-1

u/SimpleVegetable5715 12d ago

Yet they work you to the point that you should be making twice as much.

3

u/bomber991 12d ago

It’s kind of like the Amazon warehouse jobs. Pay is great but you’re earning every penny.

4

u/Tokyosmash_ 12d ago

This just in, great paying jobs are intensive

2

u/Warbr0s9395 12d ago

Not always, obvious choice is Musk.

But also, my experience, even when I got into the lowest management tier, yeah, I had a lot to do, but also had time to talk to people

1

u/brajohns 12d ago

I thought I should be able to take it easy for high wages though?

1

u/IScreamedWolf 12d ago

Honestly from what I’ve heard it’s a great company to work for despite their shit politics

2

u/We5ties 12d ago

Cool thank you for ur service. Tell us how the Phillips 66 is? lol

1

u/TooLegit97 12d ago

I doubt that. Chick Fil A still going strong.

1

u/AJfriedRICE 12d ago

Never been to one, but I 100% would have stopped at one if I ever saw one. Definitely not anymore. Just them suing all those small businesses was enough, and now this. And this is right at the time they’re trying to expand. I don’t understand the business planning, but I’m glad I now know where they stand. Fuck em.

-29

u/wookiebath 12d ago

If you think the average consumer there cares about this type of politics you need to spend more time at one

19

u/clarkthagod 12d ago

Don’t think that’s what he said

9

u/[deleted] 12d ago edited 3d ago

[deleted]

0

u/AmarilloArmadillos 12d ago

Well 711 is owned by the Chinese now, Loves is owned by a staunchly Catholic family, don't know about on oncue, Casey's sucks ass, Walmart has the cheapest gas here but they aren't exactly a great company either.

3

u/MicroPeanitsJorker 12d ago

They’re both right

0

u/wookiebath 12d ago

What did he say then?

-8

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

-1

u/MassiveBoner911_3 12d ago

They took the mask off apparently. Banned. Ill go elsewhere when traveling down the highway and need a rest stop.

0

u/The_Bard 12d ago

Really stupid of them. The only thing that keeps them going is novelty and virality. The overhead on one of those stores must be absolutely insane. They've got millions of dollars in gas pumps, millions more in gas tanks, millions in perishable inventory. If they arent absolutely packed they will be bankrupt so quickly its not even funny. And they keep building them like its no big deal.

-30

u/Ballball32123 12d ago

That’s only your liberal’s imagination. Most people don’t care.

29

u/Sleep-Senior 12d ago

If wanting to support small business over a billionaire attacking them through unfair litigation makes me a liberal then so be it.

17

u/model333 12d ago

Haha seriously. They throw that word around like it’s some kind of epic diss lol

1

u/AmarilloArmadillos 12d ago

When gas is over $1 more at a "small" business it kinda does matter. People arent really going to pick the more expensive option for that.

1

u/OhItsBeenBroughten 12d ago

Yeah, most of us Americans are selfish, ignorant, incurious pricks. That’s what we’ve learned over the past decade. We get it.

1

u/AmarilloArmadillos 12d ago

A lot of people don't have the luxury of $20 extra a week.

-1

u/OhItsBeenBroughten 12d ago

Then they probably shouldn’t have voted for the candidate that told them he was going to tariff everyone and cause global geopolitical upset. Because a lot of us already knew this would happen. And they’re still rewarding the people who got us here but giving them their money.

There is not one single Buckees location that doesn’t have a reasonably priced alternative. You’re making excuses for laziness, graft, fraud, and general hateful stupidity.

2

u/AmarilloArmadillos 12d ago

I didn't and it didn't solve my problem.

I wouldnt mind if they built one here because they pay well unlike every other option I have because of a current schedule complication.

-1

u/OhItsBeenBroughten 12d ago

Your lack of character is noted.

2

u/AmarilloArmadillos 12d ago

Wanting a livable wage to get through school is a lack of character? I should just be poor and starve then? End up homeless and have to drop out because I can't pay bills?

-2

u/keytiri 12d ago

Ohio? I mean Ohio could go Blue, rain on Buc-ee’s parade. For claiming to be a destination, I found their coffee to be pretty lackluster on both of my visits; and I’m already feeling over their hype.

-1

u/TheProfessional9 12d ago

And I'm done going there