Buc-ee’s CEO Arch Aplin III plans to expand the Texas-based restaurant franchise by taking it nationwide, but only to red states.
Aplin revealed as much while speaking during the Aug. 17 grand opening of the franchise’s 58th store in Benton, Arkansas.
“We have a lot of opportunities, we’re growing, we’re building in a lot of places — but when you find a conservative, business-friendly state with a phenomenal workforce, it makes a difference,” he said. “I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing versus a place like this, where people do appreciate what you’re building.”
“So that leadership, that concept, that idea of conservative, business-friendly, family-oriented concept works so much better if it trickles down from the very leadership, from the very top at the governor’s office, at the congressman, at the senator, at the mayor (and) the representatives,” he added.
Listen:
The founder of @bucees Beaver Aplin put it best:
“Life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing.”
That’s why red states like Arkansas are surging and people and businesses are fleeing blue state. pic.twitter.com/GR95QelFCM
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) August 18, 2026
His remarks come at a time when businesses are exiting blue states at a rapid pace in search of greener, red-state pastures.
“This is the greatest wealth transfer in the history of the United States,” economist Stephen Moore recently told the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Moore mainly blamed blue-state tax policies for this exodus.
“If they continue to charge 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 percent income taxes when you can pay zero income tax in Tennessee and Texas and Florida, that’s not working out very well, so progressivism is destroying blue states,” he said.
Joel Kotkin of Chapman University added that businesses and individual people are also moving because of the “woke” claptrap being pushed in schools.
“People move in part because they don’t feel comfortable anymore where they are,” he said. “This is very much expressed in the public schools, where not only are they not teaching particularly well, but they’re also imposing ideologies on people, and I think that drives some people to red states.”
“In a state like California, you pay high taxes, but you don’t get much for your money. Schools, though, are pretty bad in much of the state. The roads are in terrible shape. The infrastructure isn’t keeping up so people have to make a rational choice,” he continued.
Returning to the topic of businesses, Moore pointed out that many businessmen like Aplin have simply had it with bad policies.
“The people who are moving out are the millionaires and billionaires — and they’re taking their incomes, their jobs, their businesses with them,” he said.
Blue State exodus continues.
In just one month New Jersey has lost Samsung Electronics and Exxon Mobile to Texas.
NJ has the highest corporate tax rate of any state and has now lost 7 Fortune 500 corporations in just the last several years. pic.twitter.com/huBqbo4nea— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) July 7, 2026
The only problem for Buc-ee’s is that it isn’t exactly making itself welcome in red states with its burdensome lawfare. For example, the company recently sued Beaver’s Mini Mart, a tiny corner store in Ohio whose mascot and logo bear a tiny resemblance to Buc-ee’s own trademark.
“[D]espite the mini mart having no gas pumps and being miles from the nearest interstate, Buc-ee’s says its customers may be confused by the business’s logo, which features a smiling beaver standing tall next to the store’s name in a red-letter font,” according to USA Today.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has for his part called for the franchise to drop its “ridiculous” suit.
Buc-ee’s is suing a tiny Ohio convenience store over its beaver logo, and the town is rallying behind the local shop
A GoFundMe has raised $77,000, while more than 20 local businesses changed their logos to include beavers in solidarity pic.twitter.com/bcIyQDOsEQ
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 23, 2026
The lawsuit also ticked off leftist comedian John Oliver, who dedicated a whole segment of his low-rated show to talking about it.
