The old saying "Everything is bigger in Texas" can apply to all sorts of things: Steaks, guns, rodeos, ranches, hairdos and hats.

It can also apply to a travel center chain named Buc-ee's that takes for its mascot a smiling, cartoon beaver. Thanks to a unique business strategy, Buc-ee's locations are renowned along Texas highways, even being "destinations" all their own.

Now, Buc-ee's is venturing outside the Lone Star state for the first time, to Baldwin County on the Alabama coast. The chain is building a Buc-ee's at Interstate 10 and the Baldwin Beach Express, a thoroughfare leading directly to the sand and Gulf surf.

"I'm a big fan of Buc-ee's and am glad to see they are spreading out into the SEC," said Kelli Hollinger, director of the Center for Retailing Studies at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

'Clever'

The company, based in Lake Jackson, Texas, started in 1982 and now boasts 33 travel stations located mostly in the eastern half of that state.

The supersized stores have been, according to some Texas media accounts, referred to as gas stations "on steroids."

"It's size, both in terms of the square footage of the store and the number of gas pumps, makes it a roadside attraction," said Greg Lindenberg, editor of Convenience Store Petroleum "CSP" Daily News.

The Buc-ee's travel station in New Braunfels, Texas - northeast of San Antonio - is 76,000-square-feet and is considered the largest convenience store in the country. The Buc-ee's in Katy, Texas -- just west of Houston - was officially named by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest car wash in the world.

The enclosed portion of the Alabama Buc-ee's is estimated to be 53,254-square-feet, or more than 21 times the size of the average convenience store. It will feature an eye-popping 120 fuel pumps.

And it's looking to hire up to 250 workers by the time it opens early next year.

If there's a convenience store/gas station/travel center in Alabama that's bigger than that, it doesn't readily come to mind.

Buc-ee's also offers a shopping experience unlike most convenience stores. Many of the items - beef jerky, fudge, candy, jalapenos and canned foods - are branded with the company's cartoon buck-toothed beaver logo.

Each Buc-ee's also sells deli foods, such as barbecue or cold cut sandwiches, and bakery goods.

"Our fudge is quite good," said Jeff Nadalo, general counsel and spokesman with Buc-ee's, said. "Our beef jerky is well-liked by many."

Buc-ee's sells souvenir hats, belts, mugs and t-shirts, even pajama pants with the beaver logo emblazoned on them. For the kiddies, there are plenty of plush beaver dolls.

That same beaver logo has recently popped up on a billboard along Interstate 10 east of downtown Mobile. The billboard advertises the company's pay range -- $13 to $17 an hour - for the plethora of jobs soon to be filled at the Alabama Buc-ee's.

More billboards heralding the new Buc-ee's are probably forthcoming, and motorists are likely to find them in Birmingham, or Huntsville, or who knows where. In Texas, the chain will place billboards hundreds of miles from the nearest Buc-ee's, offering amusing messages.

"Some Say Best Jerky Ever. 797 miles"

"Top Two Reasons to Stop at Buc-ee's: #1 and #2. 82 miles"

"Only 262 miles to Buc-ee's. You can hold it."

"Got Porcelain? 72 miles"

"It's clever," said Mike Davis, a professor at Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "That is consistent with the idea of making your place a destination."

The closest Buc-ee's to the Baldwin Beach Express location is in Baytown, Texas, which is about 470 miles. That means there are plenty of opportunities for Buc-ee's billboards as far west as eastern Texas and Louisiana, and as far east as Orlando.

Said Hollinger: "Those compelling and funny billboards, they make you laugh and they surprise you. Those bits of humor are enough to make a quirky brand really memorable."

Venky Shankar, director of research at the Center for Retailing Studies at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, said the cartoon beaver provides Buc-ee's with a "distinctive" image that is "very unlike other gas or retail outlets."

It's an image that Buc-ee's has battled for in court. In May, a federal jury sided with the company in a trademark battle with another Texas travel center, Choke Canyon. Buc-ee's lawyers argued successfully that Choke Canyon's alligator logo was too similar to the beaver.

Said Nadalo: "Exxon has a tiger (mascot). There are others who have one. But I think our friendly beaver is well known and people appreciate seeing the yellow circle because it means they have a good place to stop."

"It grabs shoppers' attention," said Shankar about the Buc-ee's logo. "However, the newness of the retail format and the superior customer experience form the backbone of its success."

Indeed, Buc-ee's prides itself on a well-lighted patron experience, and boasts of having the cleanest restrooms in the industry. A national survey released in May by GasBuddy, the Boston-based tech firm, showed Buc-ee's restrooms as earning the highest rating.

Clean restrooms are a big deal for motorists. According to GasBuddy, 37 percent of survey respondents said one of their worst fears when traveling is having to use a restroom and being unsure where to stop for a clean facility.

'Cult-like'

Buc-ee's is most definitely not a "truck stop:" 18-wheelers are not allowed. Thus, the venues cater almost solely to travelers.

"Buc-ee's bucks the retail format trend in many ways," said Shankar. "Its value proposition is superior customer experience for a traveler. Not only are the gas prices low, but the restrooms are squeaky clean and offers a Walmart-like assortment with a pleasant experience. The experience is so unique that its customers feel like acting as its advocate."

Some publications have referred to Buc-ee's loyalists as "cult-like," but Lindenberg said the appeal isn't limited to just Texas. "It attracts travelers from all over the country passing through the state," he said.

Said Nadalo: "I think people just appreciate a clean restroom and a tasty lunch. I think that they want a friendly staff and that has led us to a core group of customers who are loyal and understand that if they want a place to take their family, they have a good option in Buc-ee's."

'High-profile location'

In Alabama, the brand has been relatively unfamiliar except for people who have traveled through Texas.

Lee Lawson, president and CEO of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, said when he first met with company executives, he had difficulty envisioning the Buc-ee's experience.

Buc-ee's travel station is under construction off of Interstate 10 at the Baldwin Beach Express east of Loxley, Ala. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Said Lawson: "I'm used to traveling like anyone else. You stop at a gas station or a truck stop or something like that. I was assured that this was nothing like we've seen before, from the scale they are building to and the fact they don't allow semi-tractor trailers and from a volume stand point. It's unlike anything we've seen."

Buc-ee's entry to Alabama also comes with something else that is rather unique for regions of the country looking to lure companies: No property or sales tax breaks.

The company has received tax incentives for some of its Texas locations. In Denton, Texas, the City Council approved $8.1 million over 22 years in sales tax reimbursements to lure a Buc-ee's to Interstate 35 north of Dallas.

In Boerne, Texas - northwest of San Antonio - elected officials agreed in 2016 to allow the company to keep half of the sales taxes generated for 20 years.

"We were glad to be able to work with them so they would be here even though we didn't have to give away a sales tax abatement," said Baldwin County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey.

Commissioner Chris Elliott, who is running for an Alabama State Senate seat in November, said there were talks between Buc-ee's and Baldwin County officials about offering incentives, but none were given.

"We felt like we didn't have to do that in order to get them here," Elliott said.

Buc-ee's purchased the prime I-10 and Baldwin Beach Express property in May 2017 for $3.7 million, according to county records.

Baldwin County will spend $394,475 on traffic signals at the Beach Express and I-10 and at nearby County Road 68.

Elliott said the Beach Express traffic flow will not be disrupted with the new signals. The nearly 13-mile road opened to motorists in 2014, and has seen a steady increase of traffic since. Almost 20,000 vehicles traveled along the Beach Express per day in July, representing a 19.4 percent increase in average daily traffic from 2016.

"It's a high-profile location," said Lawson. "I think Buc-ee's is very confident in their brand and what they deliver in service and cleanliness and offerings. They could've gone anywhere along I-10 from Texas to Jacksonville and they chose here."

Nadalo, the general counsel at Buc-ee's, said the company chose the Baldwin County site because the company believes "Alabama is aligned with the type of customer we are looking for."

He added, "Folks like to travel and there is a strong work force in the area and we obviously need a talented work force to support our operations. Alabama is not too far from Texas, so we are looking forward to being there for our first out-of-state location."

Davis, the SMU professor, said the company is trying to appeal to families and a slightly more "upscale" traveler.

"These are families with discretionary income," said Davis. "They want clean and they want novel and that is what they will find at Buc-ee's."

'Selective'

Buc-ee's has announced plans to expand into Florida, with stores announced in Daytona Beach and Fort Myers.

A plan in 2016 to build a Buc-ee's along Interstate 12 in Baton Rogue, Louisiana, fell apart after the company terminated a purchase agreement, according to published reports.

There are rumors that the company was planning expansions in Mobile and Leeds, along I-20 east of Birmingham, but Nadalo would not confirm additional Alabama locations.

"The rumors are funny," he said. "It happens all the time, not just to where we are going but what we are doing as a company. People like to make to make a lot of guesses and almost they are always wrong."

Said Shankar, at Texas A&M University: "Buc-ee's has been a conservative retailer, sticking to Texas for the last 36 years. However, to leverage its brand equity, it needs to expand, and states like Alabama and Florida, being proximate southern states, are logical candidates for expansion."

Lindenberg, at CSP Daily News, said he believes the only danger he sees for Buc-ee's is the potential for "oversaturation."

"If the destination is easy to get to, it will lose some of its cache, so it needs to be selective in expanding," he said. "But it's not anywhere near close to that point yet."

Nadalo anticipates a fan fare surrounding the Baldwin County Buc-ee's, once it opens. He said past grand opening dates have been met with customers camping overnight outside the store.

"We hope to have our Texas customers join us in Alabama and we hope to introduce our brand to the new folks who have never experienced a Buc-ee's in Alabama and Florida," said Nadalo. "It will be interesting to see how this goes."