Buc-ee's locations reached Arizona on Monday, June 22, when the chain opened its first state store in Goodyear. Bill Goodykoontz visited the new site and taste tested barbecue options as the opening drew first-time Arizona customers and opening-week traffic control.
74,000 square feet and 120 fueling stations define the new Buc-ee's Arizona store, which sits near Interstate 10 and Bullard Avenue in Goodyear. The site is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, giving drivers a round-the-clock stop in a corridor where traffic management mattered from the start.
Bill Goodykoontz samples Buc-ee's barbecue
Bill Goodykoontz tried the chopped brisket sandwich, Carolina pulled pork sandwich, three meat sandwich, and beef jerky. That visit put a narrow focus on the food side of the opening, where Buc-ee's leans on homemade barbecue as much as it does on the gas pumps and the beaver mascot.
$3.85 for regular gasoline and $4.49 per gallon for diesel gave the Goodyear Buc an opening-day price point that sat alongside the chain's low-cost image. The store also sold Buc-ee's Arizona T-shirts with Canyon and saguaro imagery, tying the first Arizona site to local branding without changing the stop's basic mission as a fuel and food destination.
Goodyear traffic route stays in place
The city provided a Buc-ee's travel route to manage opening-week traffic, and officials said it would remain in place as long as traffic control was needed. Rideshare and carpooling were encouraged to reduce congestion, a practical move for Arizona residents and visitors headed to Goodyear while the opening-day rush pushed conditions toward slow-moving traffic.
1982 marked the chain's founding, but the opening in Goodyear is the part that changes the drive for Arizona customers now. If congestion keeps building around Interstate 10 and Bullard Avenue, the route stays in service until the traffic control job is done.
