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After years of rumors, the wildly popular Texas chain Buc-ee’s may be looking to enter the Louisiana market.
The city of Ruston is set to vote on entering a cooperative endeavor agreement with CSMS Management LLC at its meeting Monday evening. According to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, Arch Aplin III is the owner of CSMS Management and the limited liability company is located in Lake Jackson, Texas. Aplin is the founder and CEO of Buc-ee’s, which is headquartered in Lake Jackson.
Jeff Nadalo, general counsel for Buc-ee’s Ltd, said the company had no comment.
The Shreveport Times, which first reported the developing deal Friday, said Buc-ee’s is negotiating the purchase of a tract of land on Ruston’s border, along Interstate 20.
At one time, Buc-ee’s was considering a south Louisiana location. In March 2016, it was reported the company would open its first Louisiana store in Baton Rouge, in the Greens at Millerville development off Interstate 12.
But a few months later, those plans fell through. Nadalo said the privately held chain needed a “critical mass” of stores to overcome the costs associated with expanding and operating in a new market.
Buc-ee’s is known for its oversized stores — up to 75,000 square feet in size with more than 100 gas pumps — that carry items such as produce, barbecue cooked in-house and fresh baked goods, along with the snacks, soft drinks and beer found in a typical convenience store. The stores feature scores of gas pumps offering low-cost fuel and pristine bathrooms.
While the chain had long been a Texas-only business, in recent years, Buc-ee’s has started to expand across the Southeast. The business is following its model of building travel centers between major driving markets. Stores are now open in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. In early 2022, the chain closed on a deal to buy a site off Interstate 10 in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
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