Faithful jam opening of Arizona's first Buc-ee's

Jeff Thorsfeldt might have him beat.

He came from Paupores, Minnesota, 2½ hours north of Minneapolis.

The Arizona store was Thorsfeldt's 18th since he was first introduced to Buc-ee's in South Carolina last year.

“I don’t know, I just love it,” he said early Monday morning sitting about a dozen people away from the front door hours before the store opened at 6 a.m.  “I love the brisket. I love the bakery. The employees are so nice. At every location, they are so nice."

His daughter Madison, who lives in Scottsdale, mock-rolled her eyes. "It's becoming a problem," she joked.

Throughout the overflowing parking lot at Monday's Goodyear Buc-ee's grand opening were dozens of license plates from Nevada and California, which came as no surprise to Tim Earley, the company's new store opening manager. 

"It's a destination," he said as the line of what Earley estimated could have been at least 3,000 people waiting to get inside snaked around the building and down to the main entrance. "When people are traveling, they make it a destination. We have a great selection of barbecue, we have a great selection of Buc-ee's apparel, the Buc-ee's merch. I think it just encompasses everything. It's like Disney World."

The 74,000-square-foot store at 1001 N. Bullard Ave. off Interstate 10 is the 56th and westernmost location for the Texas chain, which is in 13 states. The Goodyear center has 120 gas pumps, none of them for big rigs.

This is not a truck stop; it's a cultural phenomenon, Larson and other die-hard fans will tell you.

It's a place where impulse buying can include an adorable Buc-ee the Beaver plush or branded t-shirt. You might run back and grab a half-pound of housemade fudge as the sweet ending to the smoked brisket sandwich and housemade potato chips many people were munching as they made their way Monday through throngs of shoppers perusing the branded merch.

And in case it slipped your mind, near every register there was a display filled with the signature Beaver Nuggets, caramel coated corn puffs that some people will swear are addicting.

Mesa resident Monica Padilla had never been to Buc-ee's but she decided to tag along with a friend and her cousin from New Mexico. It reminded her of waiting in line for Black Friday deals when she was a teen "only now it's 16 years later" and the 31-year-old wasn't shopping for gifts.

She was looking to see Buc-ee's bathrooms, not only because she had to go, she said, but her cousin, Harper Martinez from New Mexico, swore by them.

The bathrooms are famously spacious and award-winning clean; the company actually has won awards for the cleanliness.

Clarissa Rios of Tempe was hoping to add to her Buc-ee's merch on Monday. She discovered Buc-ee's when she spent a month working in Oklahoma last year and was beyond excited when she heard it was coming to Arizona. 

"I said I have to be there," said Rios, who was wearing her "Nobody messes with Texas" Buc-ee's shirt that she got from a store outside Dallas.

Larson has been to that Texas store. In fact, he mused while standing outside of his 2021 Kia Forte holding a well-worn Buc-ee the Beaver plush keychain, he has been to most of the Texas locations and stores in South Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia Tennessee, Colorado and other states since he discovered the store on a drive through Texas three years ago.

"I saw that big yellow sign and thought I need to stop," said Larson, who collected Starbucks cups from all 50 states before falling into his Buc-ee's obsession. 

Larson was among the first couple hundred to breach the front door minutes after 6 a.m. By 6:15, the store was so packed you couldn't see the brisket sandwiches a crew of a dozen were putting together in the center of the store, just across from the immense wall of beef jerky and meat sticks, all made in-house. 

The brisket was just one reason Oscar Diaz, his wife and their son piled into their Mercedes Sprinter van Friday night and drove the 359 miles from their home in Long Beach, California. 

"My biggest thing is the Americana stuff, because we haven't got it yet," he said. "I also want the Fourth of July Buc-ee and some Beaver Nuggets."

Larson guessed he would only spend an hour or so in the store to grab more Beaver trinkets and a brisket sandwich. He was also getting some fudge for the road.

His next stop: The new Buc-ee's in Ohio.