{"id":823001,"date":"2026-08-23T09:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T09:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823001\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T09:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T09:28:09","slug":"ohio-rallies-around-beavers-mini-mart-in-logo-fight-with-buc-ees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823001\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio rallies around Beaver’s Mini Mart in logo fight with Buc-ee\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (AP) \u2014 A lip-licking alligator, a smiling moose and a hat-wearing bear are among the many cartoon animals to have found themselves in the crosshairs of Buc-ee\u2019s<\/a>, the popular Texas convenience store chain that has a penchant for protecting its buck-toothed beaver.<\/p>\n

But now Buc-ee\u2019s has set off a Buckeye backlash across Ohio and beyond after taking on a beaver in the city of Beavercreek.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s yet another Buc-ee\u2019s Ltd. trademark infringement lawsuit<\/a>. Supporters of Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart have attacked Buc-ee\u2019s online and boycotted the stores, and the mini mart\u2019s home city passed a resolution making the beaver an official part of its history. British comedian John Oliver<\/a> has even weighed in on the kerfuffle.<\/p>\n

On an episode of \u201cLast Week Tonight with John Oliver,\u201d the comedian detailed Buc-ee\u2019s aggressive history of trademark lawsuits targeting various woodland creatures and launched a website hawking merchandise bearing a knockoff \u201cBuc-off\u201d logo and a squirrel mascot named Mr. Nutterbutter. On X, #boycottbucees trended.<\/p>\n

Buc-ee\u2019s sued Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart in late July, four months after the chain known for its extensive food offerings and massive restrooms opened its first Ohio store less than a half-hour\u2019s drive away.<\/p>\n

Buc-ee\u2019s argues the shop\u2019s beaver logo too closely resembles the convenience store giant\u2019s branded Buc-ee (\u201cBucky\u201d) beaver. The Texas-based company asked for a jury trial in federal court in Ohio.<\/p>\n

Buc-ee\u2019s claims a right to protect its valuable logo<\/p>\n

Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart occupies a long, low building with a shingle roof at a suburban intersection. In contrast, the new 74,000-square-foot (6,875-square-meter) Buc-ee\u2019s off Interstate 70 near Dayton has more than 100 gas pumps, 24 electric vehicle chargers and 700 parking spaces. A second Ohio store has been approved to open in 2028.<\/p>\n

While preparing to enter the state in February, Buc-ee\u2019s sued the northern Ohio holding company for Mickey Mart gas stations, arguing its Mickey the Moose logo could be confused with Buc-ee. (The company\u2019s response: \u201cA moose is not a beaver.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Buc-ee\u2019s beaver logo features the face of a beaver with prominent buck teeth wearing a red ball cap against a yellow backdrop. The Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart mascot is a full beaver, unclothed, waving and smiling against a white background.<\/p>\n

Customers have been critical of Buc-ee\u2019s decision to target the much smaller store.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Buc-ee\u2019s, but I don\u2019t plan on going back until they start making better business decisions,\u201d Austin Collins, 32, a project manager from Fairborn, said outside Beaver\u2019s, where he was making his first visit to protest the lawsuit. <\/p>\n

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He called targeting a beaver-named business in Beavercreek \u201ca little spiteful.\u201d License plates from three states were visible in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

Buc-ee\u2019s has defended the lawsuit as protective of its valuable trademark. In a statement on its website, the company said it first learned of Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart when its owner, Vic Boparai, filed a trade name registration<\/a> on Oct. 23. <\/p>\n

The small business, incorporated in 2017, changed its name from Hanes Road Carryout to Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart in January 2025, according to the paperwork. That was about four months after Buc-ee\u2019s broke ground near Dayton. Recognizing a conflict, the company said it repeatedly attempted to reach Boparai without success, so it was forced to sue.<\/p>\n

Boparai has since issued a statement of his own, though without addressing the company\u2019s concerns nor the merits of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to say thank you to the community and the entire country for supporting us and our business,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are overwhelmed by your support for our business and other small businesses everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Boparai at Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart or by calling the store. <\/p>\n

Beavercreek adopts the beaver as part of city history<\/p>\n

Beavercreek City Council responded to the dust-up by passing a resolution Aug. 10 making the beaver a permanent and official part of its 200-plus-year history. Bucky the Beaver, mascot of the Beavercreek Local Schools, visited the meeting ahead of the unanimous vote.<\/p>\n

On social media, images lampooning the fight are rampant. One showed the Ohio State University football mascot, Brutus Buckeye, tackling Buc-ee the beaver.<\/p>\n

Support has taken other forms, too. One was a GoFundMe campaign aimed at assuring that costs associated with the lawsuit don\u2019t put Beaver\u2019s Mini Mart out of business, as has happened to other establishments Buc-ee\u2019s sued. It had raised at least $69,000.<\/p>\n

The mini mart gave permission to The Original Goodie Shop bakery in Upper Arlington to use its logo on a signature cookie, with $1 from each one sold going to support Beaver\u2019s legal fees. Cake, Hope & Love, a Beavercreek bakery, also is offering cookies adorned with buck-toothed beavers that urge shopping local. <\/p>\n

Other Dayton-area businesses \u2014 including a Lego store and a root beer shop \u2014 temporarily altered their logos to include beavers in a show of solidarity. Dozens of businesses in Beavercreek already incorporate the city name or word beaver in their names. <\/p>\n

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who attended and praised the grand opening of the Dayton-area Buc-ee\u2019s store in April, described the lawsuit as \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is Beavercreek, for heaven\u2019s sake,\u201d the governor told reporters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (AP) \u2014 A lip-licking alligator, a smiling moose and a hat-wearing bear are among the many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[348811,28,3827,793,25186,20991,149,9647,348810,58641,12303,6454,20999,1022,1059,795,348809],"class_list":["post-823001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-austin-collins","tag-business","tag-domestic-news","tag-general-news","tag-intellectual-property","tag-john-oliver","tag-lifestyle","tag-marketing-and-advertising","tag-mickey-mart","tag-mike-dewine","tag-oh-state-wire","tag-ohio","tag-retail-and-wholesale","tag-texas","tag-tx-state-wire","tag-u-s-news","tag-vic-boparai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}