Chain's planned 120-pump, 50,000-square-foot store on LPGA Blvd. would be largest in state

DAYTONA BEACH — This city is about to get the biggest gas station/convenience store Florida has ever seen.

As in 120 gas pumps and a "convenience travel center" the size of a supermarket.

And a beaver as its mascot.

Buc-ee's, a Texas-based operator of super-sized gas station-convenience stores, has agreed to purchase a 35-acre site on the north side of LPGA Boulevard, just east of Interstate 95, with plans to open as soon as next year.

At 50,000 square feet, the mega-sized Buc-ee's convenience store "would be the biggest one (in the state) I can think of," said Ned Bowman, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association. "Some of the Love's and Pilot (truck stops) are quite big, but they are probably only half the size (of Buc-ee's)."

Even the closest Publix, in the Ormond Towne Square, is smaller.

The Daytona Beach store will be the Lake Jackson, Texas-based chain's first outside the Lone Star State. Founded in 1982, Buc-ee's has grown to 32 locations.

A growing area

The Buc-ee's on LPGA Boulevard will be immediately west of the new Stonewood Grill that opened Monday on the site of the former Vince Carter's.

"That's fantastic," said L. Gale Lemerand, the CEO and majority owner of Stonewood Holdings, about having Buc-ee's as a neighbor. "There'll be thousands of cars a day. It'll help us big time."

Buc-ee's would be the latest addition to the city's LPGA Boulevard corridor, an area that has seen a flurry of commercial development and new home construction as of late. In November, a Tanger Outlets mall opened directly to the south. Last month, local government officials and business leaders took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a planned 6,900-home Jimmy Buffett-themed active adult community called Latitude Margaritaville. A Sam's Club store and more restaurants and shops are also planned for the area.

Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. on Wednesday announced its contract to sell the undeveloped 35-acre site to Buc-ee's.

In recent years, Volusia County began attracting another higher-end gas/convenience chain from another state, Wawa, known in Pennsylvania for its hoagies. The first Daytona Beach Wawa is under construction downtown.

Wawa typically hires about 40 employees at each store. By comparison, Buc-ee's typically employ 225 workers.

Not a truck stop

Buc-ee's stores carry "hundreds of snack items," freshly baked pastries, fresh sandwiches and homemade fudge. Popular items include "Beaver Nuggets," which Jeff Nadalo, the company's general counsel, described as caramel-coated corn puffs.

The snack offerings include pickled quail eggs and jalapeno jelly. "Just about any snack food you can imagine, we have it," Nadalo said.

The stores are also known for their large restrooms, which have full-time attendants to keep them clean and well-stocked. In 2013, Texas Monthly magazine published an article on Buc-ee's, subtitled: "Inside America's Best Men's Room," and reporting that the company had erected billboards reading: "The Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee's: Number 1 and Number 2."

Buc-ee's even made national news earlier this week when New York Times columnist David Brooks, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," likened White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon to the Texas-based gas station/convenience store, as opposed to President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom Brooks likened to "a fancy restaurant in New York."

Those comments sparked outrage on social media among Buc-ee's fans, including one who wrote, "@nytdavidbrooks if you'd been to a Buc-ee's and experienced the palatial restrooms, you'd never slander them by associating them w/Bannon."

The stores all feature a cartoon beaver logo, presumably a reference co-founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin, who started the chain with business partner Don Wasek. Each Buc-ee's also has a bronze beaver statue in front, Nadalo said.

In addition, Buc-ee's stores carry handmade craft items unique to the region in which the stores are located. "You'll definitely see Florida products that Floridians will love," Nadalo said.

Nadalo advised Buc-ee's stores are not truck stops. "No 18-wheelers are permitted other than vendors making deliveries," he said.

The chain has a extremely devoted fan base, Nadalo said, noting that the Facebook page for Buc-ee's has more than 290,000 "likes."

"Our motto is 'clean, friendly and in-stock,'" Nadalo said.

Opening date?

John Albright, the CEO of Consolidated-Tomoka, said Buc-ee's is expected to begin construction as soon as it completes the process of securing the necessary rezoning and permits from the city, which are expected by year's end.

Construction of new stores typically takes nine months to a year, said Nadalo, who declined speculate on when the Daytona Beach location will open. "We don't have a timetable."

The Daytona Beach location is "the first one (in Florida) that we are announcing," said Nadalo, who added, "Certainly we'd expect to have several in your state."

Nadalo said his company decided to open its first location outside of Texas here because "Florida and Texas are in many ways cousins." He added that the I-95/LPGA Boulevard interchange also had "heavy traffic" and "the culture there is good."

While he did not have more specifics regarding the planned Daytona Beach store, Nadalo said it is likely the development will include spaces for other stores as well. "If you look at our history, we do a lot of additional development outside our convenience stores and could have room for other tenants," he said.

Nadalo said Buc-ee's pays higher wages than the industry average, with hourly workers typically earning $12 to $14 an hour. Employees are also entitled to receive benefits and immediately accrue vacation time, he said.

Albright said Buc-ee's may have been drawn to the LPGA Boulevard location in part because of the new nearby Tanger Outlets mall.

"They're located next to two Tanger Outlets in Texas," he said.

"Buc-ee's has such a loyal following that people driving down I-95 are going to want to plan their stops here," Albright said. "It's going to be a destination convenience store."

Bowman of the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association described the I-95/LPGA Boulevard interchange area as "a great location" and that he's not surprised that Buc-ee's chose it.

"You get 300,000 people moving to Florida every year and we're the third-largest gasoline market in the country, behind Texas and California," he said.

Buc-ee's officials had reached out to the association for advice on potential store locations, Bowman said.

The chain, Bowman noted, already has a humorous billboard along I-10 near Tallahassee that states: "Buc-ee's 737 miles. You can hold it."

When the Daytona Beach store opens, the distance stated on the billboard may need to be changed to 258 miles.