The great American highway is long and boring. Sometimes there are awe-inspiring natural wonders to break up the monotony. Sometimes there are bizarre roadside attractions like enormous balls of paint or twine. And sometimes there are convenience stores with cold drinks, delicious snacks, remarkable bathrooms and souvenirs to take home. To a certain kind of traveler, these may be the best of all.
Buc-ee’s
According to research by Placer.ai, some c-stores have become travel destinations in their own right. Between April 2023 and March 2024, average visits to c-stores grew by 1.8%, but at Texas-based Buc-ee’s, that number was 3.4%. (At 74,000 square feet, Buc-ee’s Sevierville, Tennessee, location is the world’s largest c-store.)
Nearly 40% of visits to Buc-ee’s took place on weekends, about 12 points higher than the industry average, and many of those visitors were likely to be families, attracted by the selection of snacks—especially jerky—and merchandise emblazoned with the stores’ beaver mascot and the spotlessly clean bathrooms. Back at home, Buc-ee’s fans re-create their favorite Buc-ee’s locations in gingerbread and congregate online in the Buc-ee’s Lovers Facebook group, where they share intel on where to find the best Buc-ee’s souvenirs, including blankets, license plate holders, and a giant plush beaver dressed like Katy Perry.
(A true story: My aunt, who lived in Texas, was such a Buc-ee’s fan that my cousins made a 100-mile round trip to buy Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets to serve at her funeral.)
- Buc-ee’s is No. 116 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Iowa 80
The Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott, billed as the world’s largest, also sells merch to visitors. “It's kind of like you’ve got to have something to prove that you were really there,” said Heather DeBaillie, Iowa 80’s vice president of marketing and operations. “Like a badge of honor.”
Iowa 80 opened on June 4, 1964, with two diesel pumps and a lunch counter and has remained open continuously, even during its many, many expansions. Today, it covers 120 acres, including parking for 900 semis, 300 cars, 20 RVs, and five tour buses, more than 40 gas islands, an electric vehicle (EV) charging station and the truckstop itself—a 130,000 square-foot building that sells 62,000 items and contains, in addition to the convenience store, 10 restaurants, showers, a laundromat, a gym, a movie theater, a barber shop, a dentist, a chiropractor, a dog park and dog wash and a trucking museum. It sees 5,000 visitors a day, except during its annual Truckers Jamboree every summer, which draws more than 10 times that number.
A person could find just about anything they need at Iowa 80, said DeBaillie, except alcohol. “We serve the driving public,” she explained, “and that’s just not a smart choice, in our opinion.”
But many customers are drawn by the sheer novelty of the place. That particular stretch of I-80, between the Quad Cities and Iowa City, is notoriously dull— the other notable tourist attraction is the Herbert Hoover Birthplace in West Branch—and the World’s Largest Truckstop gives them something to look at. “That’s why I would stop,” said DeBaillie. “I’d be like, ‘So let’s go see what this place really is’.”
Wally’s
Wally’s was born out of a similar impulse to relieve boredom in 2017 when cousins Michael Rubenstein, who had a background in real estate, and Chad Wallis, who worked in c-stores and gas stations, found themselves on a dull stretch between Colorado and their home in Missouri. The first Wally’s opened in Pontiac, Illinois, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, in the fall of 2020. A second store opened outside St. Louis in 2022, and two more are planned near Indianapolis and Kansas City.
“It’s a different concept than folks are traditionally used to,” said Andy Strom, Wally’s chief product and marketing officer. Wally’s deals in nostalgia: its interior design evokes the ’70s and ’80s, the era of National Lampoon’s Vacation. But almost all the food in the store is prepared fresh, including the popcorn and barbecue sandwiches, and team members are encouraged to come up with new items. Strom’s current favorite is a keto BLT with hard boiled eggs instead of bread.
The main emphasis at Wally’s is on giving families something to experience together. “There’s a lot of stuff that resonates with Gen X-ers,” Strom said, “that reminds them of being on family road trips as kids.”
- Click here to take a look inside Wally’s Pontiac, Illinois, store. Wally’s was a 2022 CSP Indie Influencer.
Hop Shop
The Hop Shop, a Kentucky-based chain of c-stores affiliated with Valor Oil, also hopes to entertain kids and parents. Damon Bail, Valor’s vice president of operations, was charged in early 2023 with the task of drawing more visitors to Hop Shops. Bail knew that one in five customers stopped in to use the bathroom. So why not make the bathroom the attraction?
Now, bathroom visitors in six Hop Shops around Cincinnati are confronted with a big red button and a sign bearing the image of the Hop Shop’s frog mascot with the faux-warning “Whatever you do, do not push this button.” When they indulge their curiosity, the lights go out, two 24-inch disco balls descend from the ceiling, and a 1970s hit plays for 40-60 seconds. Naturally, people want to record this experience and post it on social media; Bail toldCSP’s Diane Adam that disco bathroom videos have generated more than 200 million views on TikTok and Instagram; there was even a wedding on Valentine’s Day. This translates into a 10% to 15% increase in inside sales, some of it disco-themed souvenirs, and a point of conversation between customers and cashiers.
“Everyone has moments in their life where they want to be a kid again,” Bail said. “I think this is one of those things that allows you to be a kid again.” And, just as importantly, actual kids will remember the Hop Shop when they grow up and bring their own kids. And so the cycle continues.