Buc-ee’s opening on Monday in Fort Worth near speedway

Cheap gas. Clean bathrooms. A seemingly endless variety of trail mix and fruit chews.

Starting Monday, motorists in far north Fort Worth will be able to find out what Buc-ee’s is all about.

The first Metroplex location for the popular Texas travel center will open at the southwest corner of Texas 114 and Interstate 35W — across from the Texas Motor Speedway — at 6 a.m. Monday, a store manager confirmed this week.

It will have all the usual Buc-ee’s features, including the wide array of jerky, candy and drinks, plus some local twists. For example, blue T-shirts featuring the words “Buc-ee’s Fort Worth, TX” and the famous logo of the buck-toothed, baseball cap-wearing beaver are already on display in the front of the store.

Also, the company is experimenting with a new way to present customers with dessert options. Unlike other Buc-ee’s locations, the Fort Worth store features a centralized area for sugary treats, assistant manager Jonathan Torga said.

“It’s called ‘Sweet Street.’ All our dessert products — our Dippin’ Dots, fudge, warm pastries — are in one part of the store,” he said.

The north Fort Worth store will be the company’s 25th location, according to the Buc-ee’s website. Another is scheduled to open later this year in Denton. Most of the company’s stores are located in south Texas, with the closest store currently in Terrell.

Buc-ee’s will be the first retailer to open at the 279-acre development known as Champions Circle. It’s an area that observers have predicted could explode with growth in the next few years.

For example, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers has signed up several retailers for its proposed shopping center in the same area, including Nike, Levi’s, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Express, Skechers, Carter’s and Oshkosh.

A retail power center is also planned at the development.

Competition among gas stations is also red hot.

On the other side of the Texas 114/I-35W interchange are Shell and Valero. And a new QuikTrip recently opened.

Buc-ee’s has hired about 240 employees, Torga said. Salaries start at about $13 an hour and go up to $18 or more, according to the company website.

In Denton, Buc-ee’s is building a travel center along I-35E near Brinker Road after that city’s leadership last year approved an $8 million, 22-year tax incentive plan for the project.

That location was initially opposed by some residents, who worried it would create a traffic nightmare in nearby neighborhoods. Approval to build in Denton came just months after residents of Corinth, which also is in Denton County, successfully fought a proposal to make a zoning change that would have allowed a Buc-ee’s in their city.

The Fort Worth Buc-ee’s also received concessions. The Fort Worth City Council last year approved an incentive package that includes giving the developers a rebate of city sales taxes collected in the area for 10 to 15 years, to offset their investment.

Buc-ee’s owner Arch “Beaver” Alpin, who opened his first convenience store in 1982 in Lake Jackson, spent nearly three hours with Denton residents one night last November answering questions and addressing concerns.

“I promise I will do everything I can to be considerate, make concessions, do the appropriate landscaping,” Alpin told the crowd.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Buc-ee’s opening on Monday in Fort Worth near speedway."