With dozens of locations across the country, a cult-like following and a wide assortment of in-house foods and products, Texas-based mega gas station chain Buc-ee's is in a league of its own — an empire that doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Though the first-ever Buc-ee's was opened in Chute near Lake Jackson, Texas, the convenience store's roots actually begin across the state line in Louisiana, where the company has been moving to expand with two planned locations in the works.

In an interview with Texas Monthly , Buc-ee's co-founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin III shared more about his familial ties to Catahoula Parish in Louisiana, saying his grandparents served as a blueprint for the type of business he has grown.

Once the talk of the town, the Aplin general store in Harrisonburg, run by

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