Suburbs

Well, that Buc-ee’s news earlier this week was quite a disappointing way to ring in the New Year, wasn’t it?

All those anxious to satisfy their tastebuds with brisket sandwiches, Beaver Nuggets and beef jerky will just have to wait another year for a location close by.

Earlier this week, the gas station and mega-convenience-like store announced that plans to open the locations in Gallaway — just past the Shelby-Fayette County line off Interstate 40 — and in West Memphis near the Interstate 40/55 junction, were delayed.

That Gallaway gas stop until 2027; the West Memphis one until 2028, as reporter Sophia Surrett wrote on Tuesday. While my desk is next to Surrett’s, I wasn’t in the office when she wrote the story, so I can’t say if there were tears on her keyboard.

Perhaps not.

But I could have sworn I heard a sniffle or two from some unnamed colleagues. They talk about Buc-ee’s in reverent tones. Speak of it glowingly. They almost treated the April 2024 announcement of the Fayette County store as a day of celebration. The groundbreaking in November 2024 was considered a potential local, if not national, holiday.

These are the kind of Buc-ee’s buddies who have the T-shirts, the key chains, blankets and buy a onesie for a friend’s new baby. And that’s the non-edible stuff. They enjoy the food on the road back from whence they came.

I finally stopped at an Alabama location last summer. My wife and I made one circuit through the business. We bought some nuggets before we left to say we had been to Buc-ee’s. Otherwise, it was just to say we experienced the store. We didn’t want to linger too long, interested to make Tallahassee by dark.

Some of the Buc-ee’s Brood route their trips to make sure they pass a location. Others drive dozens of miles off the straight path to visit. Those were the ones looking forward to having a Buc-ee’s a little closer to home and easier to visit. And somehow, I don’t think the feeling about Buc-ee’s is similar to Publix or Whataburger, where the absence makes the desire deeper.

No, the Buc-ee’s admirers seem like their devotion is strong. That they can be the locals that offer parallel support to the interstate travelers looking for the best, cleanest bathrooms in the world and enough pumps to provide plenty of petrol for a NASCAR race.

They are just going to have to wait an extra year to get their brisket at a nearby exit. - Suburbs editor, Clay Bailey

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