Buc ee’s is a Texas thing. It is the world’s largest gas station and convenience store. There are few Buc ees outside of Texas, but one has opened in Baldwin County, AL, not far from my camp.
Wow, what a place. Their barbecue brisket sandwiches are off the chart. Their pork and turkey barbecue are also delicious. I filled my car at one of their hundred gas pumps for $3.21, cheaper even than Raceway or Walmart. I think there are only two Buc ees in Florida in St. Augustine and Daytona. A trip to Buc ee’s is a lot of fun.
I’ve been to Buc ee’s three times since writing my post.
I investigated to see whether Buc ee’s was traded publicly. It is not. It is privately owned. I believe if the owners intend to become billionaires, an IPO is imminent. BTW, for a number of years, I was editor of an IPO subscription newsletter which was profitable for a couple years, but perished during the burst of the dotcom bubble. If a company is likely to have a first day trading burst, and it may happen with Buc ee’s, it’s shares at underwriter pricing will be heavily subscribed. In trading IPOs, the underwriter is important, and the Gold Standard of the world of underwriting is Goldman-Sachs. Unfortunately, you must have an investment profile of millions to have your conditional offer of purchase accepted by Goldman’s. I recommend opening an E-Trade account. At one time, until they shut me down, I had over 30 E-Trade because Gomez Brothers deposited two hundred dollars in each account you opened. What a deal. Free money. All good things come to an end, and E-Trade after seven years restricted personal account to three in number. Still, E-Trade is different than Morgan Stanley, Goldman’s and other large underwriters because IPO shares are allotted by a lottery rather than a review of your investment profile. When I had the thirty accounts, I won every lottery, getting five or six allocations for every ipo. My best IPO trading day occurred with the VLUX ipo which priced at $19. I received allocations in six accounts from E Trade and FBR (no longer exists–I think Friedman is now in prison). At the end of the first day of trading, VLUX closed at $318 a share. My allocation was 100 shares in each account. So keep an eye on Buc ee’s. If the number of shares in the IPO float is very large, the share price is less likely to have a burst. If that occurs, it is a good idea depending on rising sales revenues to buy shares in the aftermarket, that is, days subsequent to its initial day of trading.
I lament shutting down the newsletter, but it was working me to death meeting precipitous publication deadlines. Had I continued with it, I imagine in a best case scenario I could have had a similar business to Renaissance Capital which offers its own heavily loaded IPO fund while still garnering monthly income as an advisory service.
During my second visit to Buc ee’s, I noticed a sign advertising employment at Buc ee’s. The starting salary was $17 and hour, but for experienced workers, the scale was up to $32.50 and hour. I passed this information on to employees of my favored Tom Thumb convenience store on Pensacola Beach, and two young teenagers obtained Buc ee’s jobs making starting salaries of $23.50 an hour. They were nice kids, no tattoos or nose rings, that is, I could look at them without feeling sorry for them.
305, the brisket sandwich is first class as if it came straight out of a Manhattan deli. It has a very good, tangy barbecue sauce on it. You obviously are something of a gourmet. Your wine recommendations were wonderful. Nobody on earth makes better wine than those living in the Land of Fruits and Nuts. At any given time, there are several hundred people inside of Bu cee’s.
I like tang to my sauce too. Sounds like a must visit next time I am in Texas.
Los Angeles is a world class city when it comes to food. Coming from Miami was a bit of an adjustment because of all the new Asian fare. I miss Cuban, of course, but I have a great local place that is surprisingly authentic.
I will say that West Coast beer is not to my tastes. I’m not an IPA fan, and even normal ales are over-hopped out here, but breweries are getting better about it now that the IPA fad is less fresh.
Ya, I see pan con bistecs with mayo and tomatoes and vinagrette etc. French bread sometimes too.
Luckily there’s a famous Cuban bakery here called Porto’s. Their croquettes are only a 6 or 7 but their papa rellenas are a 10. Good Cuban bread too, of course. I used to drive farther out to Glendale until they opened a new location in Burbank. There are literally lines outside the door 15 years later… They are super popular and cheap.
But there is a large Cuban population in LA, I think more around Orange county or somewhere.
