photo by Lauren Drewes Daniels
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The high in Beavercreek, Ohio, today is 84 degrees, but you can bet things are getting hot inside the Beaver’s Mini Mart. The small corner store with no gas pumps is surrounded by tall, lush trees and sits at the corner of two country roads, a mile from Highway 35.
The only Buc-ee’s in Ohio — a 74,000-square-foot store with 100 gas pumps — is 15 miles away; a 22-minute drive. It opened this April.
According to The Enquirer in Cincinnati, the Texas-based mega gas station chain is going after Beaver’s Mini Mart:
“The Texas-based gas station chain is suing Beaver’s Mini Mart, a small corner store that has sat in the middle of a Beavercreek neighborhood for more than two decades, according to a federal lawsuit filed July 28.”
Be. Serious.
The Dayton Daily News reports that Beaver’s Mini Mart “has operated under that name since around 2017,” and was once a Circle K. The logo is a brown beaver standing with one arm extended.
Photo of Buc-ee’s: Lauren Drewes Daniels; Photo of Beaver’s Mini Mart: Google Street View
Buc-ee’s is gaining national attention for its litigious nature. It’s passing out lawsuits faster than its namesake nuggets, suing any store that even thinks about using a small animal mascot. The British Jon Stewart, John Oliver, recently dedicated an entire segment on “Last Week Tonight” to the issue, starting his eyes-gleaming tirade, “Buc-ee’s loves suing other companies.”
Oliver reported that the tourist-attraction gas station has sued as many as a dozen companies over the years and “threatened a bunch more.” And many settle, choosing to redesign their logo rather than fuck with these beaver nuggets people.
In the lawsuit, Buc-ee’s alleges “Consumers are likely to perceive a connection or association,” because of Beaver Mini Mart’s use of the word “Beaver’s,” its “predominant use of the color red,” and its cartoon logo.
We’re wondering if Beavercreek as a town is about to get sued. The Beavercreek High School football team — an angry beaver with menacing front teeth — might want to ask its booster club, Beaver Nation, for new non-beaver jerseys.
We’re all for Buc-ee’s amazing bathrooms, endless snacks and low-gas prices. But why they discontinued the cake balls and go after small businesses in Beavercreek is a touch too much.
