Stuckey's
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Stuckey's is a roadside convenience store found on highways throughout the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.
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[edit] Early days
Stuckey's was founded by W.S. Stuckey, Sr. in Georgia in 1937 as a pecan stand. The original pecan stand closed in 1938, but the profits from it allowed W.S. Stuckey to build a bigger store, behind which he built a factory for the manufacture of pecan log rolls and pecan divinities, which Stuckey's is still famous for. Then W.S. Stuckey started a franchise operation. Many stores were co-located with gas stations, especially Texaco. The stores tended to have steep-pitched blue roofs and clean restrooms. According to legend (likely apocryphal), W.S. Stuckey selected locations by starting at a Stuckey's, drinking a lot of coffee, and driving down a highway until he needed to use a restroom. The area in which he used the restroom would become the Stuckey's, and if he had to use it inside a person's house, he or she would become the owners of the store.[citation needed]
[edit] Spinoffs
- Nickerson Farms
- Horne's
- Atkinson's
- Saxon's
- B. Lloyd's
[edit] Mutant/Former Stuckey's Buildings
On one Stuckey's pop-culture site , there is a section showing Stuckey's locations that have been mutated, including the original location in Eastman, Georgia, which was turned into a diner. Others have been turned into other places, have been replaced by other Stuckey's across the street, or just boarded up completely with the merchandise still in the store. One contributor on the site said that he saw a Former Stuckey's Building that was boarded up. He then looked inside and there was expired candy and trinkets still in the store. He described it as 'creepy'. It was then turned into a video store, the fate of the expired candy unknown, even though it was probably thrown away by the owners of the video store.
According to the site, there are 3 categories to know what is a FSB:
- Blue roof
- Clean restrooms sign
- Gas pump island
[edit] The downfall and rise
In 1960, W. S. Stuckey attempted to create a hotel chain called the Stuckey's Carriage Inn, but only opened four locations. In 1967 Stuckey's merged with Pet Milk. The company at its peak had over 350 locations, which dwindled to less than 75 after a decline in the late 1970s under ownership by Pet. It was repurchased by former Congressman W.S. Stuckey, Jr. in 1985. It currently has over 200 franchise stores in 19 states.
[edit] In Popular Culture
- In 1993, the LucasArts PC adventure game Sam & Max: Hit the Road paid homage to the chain by featuring several "Snuckey's" locations that the player can visit. Among the things to buy in the stores are several minigames and a box of pecan candies. The Sam & Max comics featured Stuckey's with the real name.
- In an episode of The Simpsons, Reverend Lovejoy, Ned Flanders, and Marge Simpson are shown eating at a Stuckey's.
- In an episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin describes the location of a southern plantation as "you know way down there when you stop seeing Howard Johnson's and start seeing Stuckey's."
- It was also mentioned in the "garage sale" episode of the popular internet cartoon, Strong Bad Email, when a character was described as "the creepy night manager at Stuckey's" type.
- In an episode of Designing Women, Charlene, Mary Jo, and Anthony get out of an awkward moment at a colony they're re-decorating when Anthony tells Mary Jo, "You wanted to pick up a pecan log from Stuckey's."
- Mentioned as a question on an episode of "Jeopardy!". Showed a picture of the Pecan Log Roll on a plate.
