Arizona’s first Buc-ee’s opened in GOODYEAR on Monday morning, and fans were already lined up before the doors opened. The new travel center near Interstate 10 and Bullard Avenue drew a crowd that started gathering days earlier, turning the grand opening into both a celebration and a traffic test.
The parking lot opened to the public at midnight, the doors were set to open at 6 a.m., and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled for 8 a.m. Fans chanted while waiting to walk through the doors, and the first customer arrived around 4 p.m. Saturday, sitting along the street with a chair and umbrella. Another fan showed up with a fresh tattoo of the chain’s beaver mascot, a sign of how far the opening had already traveled beyond a routine store debut.
By the time Monday arrived, the line outside the Texas-sized travel center was long enough to underline why the opening mattered. Employees inside were preparing brisket, barbecue and Beaver Nuggets before the doors opened, while the city planned to live-stream the ribbon-cutting ceremony on its social media channels. For Arizona, this was the first Buc-ee’s, and for GOODYEAR it was an immediate draw for customers who had been waiting for a moment that had been building all weekend.
The excitement came with a catch. Authorities said all business access would stay open along the 6.5-mile travel route and elsewhere on Bullard Avenue, but travelers in the area were still told to allow extra drive time and expect slowdowns and delays. The eastbound I-10 ramp at Estrella Parkway was closed, and Bullard was closed between McDowell Road and I-10, meaning the opening would affect traffic even for people who had no intention of stopping.
That mix of celebration and congestion is part of the Buc-ee’s formula. The chain is known for its beaver mascot, hot food and a reputation that reaches beyond Texas, where it has the record for the largest gas station in the world at its Sevierville, Tennessee, location. It has also won Best Restroom in America, and its car wash is said to generate enough business to support a six-figure salary. In GOODYEAR, though, the immediate story was simpler: Arizona’s first Buc-ee’s opened to a crowd, and the roads around it will feel the strain long after the first wave of customers is gone.
