Mikey P
Administrator
This guy turned a gas station into a $275 million machine.
No fancy tech. No Wall Street backing.
Just clean bathrooms, fresh brisket, and a cast-iron understanding of what travelers actually want.
His name?
Beaver. (Yes, really.)
Back in 1982, he was working for his dad’s construction company in Texas…
but itching to build something of his own.
On his daily drive to work, he noticed something:
Every gas station is terrible.
Filthy bathrooms. Sad snacks. Service with a scowl.
And yet… they’re all making money.
So Beaver does what most people don’t—he pays attention.
“What if I just made a better one?”
He gets a bank loan, buys a small piece of land, and opens one little store.
He calls it Buc-ee’s.
A few years later, he teams up with Don Wasek—another young hustler with experience in gas stations and car washes.
Together, they expand. Store by store.
And then comes the turning point.
They buy a massive plot of land off the highway and build a mega Buc-ee’s:
50+ gas pumps
Restrooms cleaner than most hospitals
Fresh BBQ brisket, fudge, and an entire wall of Buc-ee’s merch
If 7-Eleven and Disneyland had a baby, this is it.
That first mega-store hit $10M in its first year.
Today?
54 stores.
Millions of fans.
$275 million in annual revenue.
And I’ll be honest… anytime we’re on a road trip and there’s a Buc-ee’s nearby, we’re stopping.
98% of the time, without question.
I’m all in for that brisket sandwich and don’t even try to pry those hot nuts out of my hands.
Here’s what most people don’t realize:
Buc-ee’s isn’t just printing money at the pump.
Some locations pull in millions just from merchandise.
People don’t just fill their tanks — they walk out with T-shirts, hats, snacks, beaver plushies, even pajama pants.
And the people working there?
They’re making bank too.
Entry-level employees can start at $18–$22/hour with full benefits, 401(k) match, and PTO.
And store managers can earn over $200,000 a year.
Not bad for running a gas station.
What I love about this story is how simple it is:
They didn’t create something new.
They just upgraded something everyone else ignored.
The road trip pit stop went from blah to legendary.
Because Beaver saw what others didn’t and went all in.
Takeaway?
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Just make it better. Cleaner. Smoother.
And maybe throw in a killer brisket sandwich.
No fancy tech. No Wall Street backing.
Just clean bathrooms, fresh brisket, and a cast-iron understanding of what travelers actually want.
His name?
Beaver. (Yes, really.)
Back in 1982, he was working for his dad’s construction company in Texas…
but itching to build something of his own.
On his daily drive to work, he noticed something:
Every gas station is terrible.
Filthy bathrooms. Sad snacks. Service with a scowl.
And yet… they’re all making money.
So Beaver does what most people don’t—he pays attention.
“What if I just made a better one?”
He gets a bank loan, buys a small piece of land, and opens one little store.
He calls it Buc-ee’s.
A few years later, he teams up with Don Wasek—another young hustler with experience in gas stations and car washes.
Together, they expand. Store by store.
And then comes the turning point.
They buy a massive plot of land off the highway and build a mega Buc-ee’s:
50+ gas pumps Restrooms cleaner than most hospitals Fresh BBQ brisket, fudge, and an entire wall of Buc-ee’s merchIf 7-Eleven and Disneyland had a baby, this is it.
That first mega-store hit $10M in its first year.
Today?
54 stores.
Millions of fans.
$275 million in annual revenue.
And I’ll be honest… anytime we’re on a road trip and there’s a Buc-ee’s nearby, we’re stopping.
98% of the time, without question.
I’m all in for that brisket sandwich and don’t even try to pry those hot nuts out of my hands.
Here’s what most people don’t realize:
Buc-ee’s isn’t just printing money at the pump.Some locations pull in millions just from merchandise.
People don’t just fill their tanks — they walk out with T-shirts, hats, snacks, beaver plushies, even pajama pants.
And the people working there?
They’re making bank too.
Entry-level employees can start at $18–$22/hour with full benefits, 401(k) match, and PTO.
And store managers can earn over $200,000 a year.
Not bad for running a gas station.
What I love about this story is how simple it is:
They didn’t create something new.
They just upgraded something everyone else ignored.
The road trip pit stop went from blah to legendary.
Because Beaver saw what others didn’t and went all in.
Takeaway?
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Just make it better. Cleaner. Smoother.
And maybe throw in a killer brisket sandwich.
