Along the bustling Interstate 10 corridor, a unique roadside attraction awaits travelers heading from Arizona to Los Angeles. Nestled in a pasture, Ass Kickin’ Gift Shop offers a vibrant selection of spicy jams and hot sauces, each bottle featuring its iconic cartoon donkey branding.
On a quiet weekday morning, the store was a serene spot with its characteristic charm. Meanwhile, across the street, signs herald the arrival of another retail giant, the Texas-based Buc-ee’s.
Ass Kickin’ Gift Shop traces its roots back to 1986 in downtown Glendale, where founder Jeff Jacobs, along with his wife Linda, started crafting a few varieties of barbecue and hot sauces. “We started off selling to independent grocery stores, and then the gift shops,” Linda Jacobs recalled. “We just went out on the road, peddling our hot sauces to gift shops.”
In 2001, the couple moved their operations to Goodyear, a city that has since burgeoned into a commercial hub with over 100,000 residents. Their store now offers over 200 products, ranging from spicy nuts to prickly pear lotion and personalized hot sauces.
Goodyear’s transformation has been a boon for the business, attracting a diverse clientele while maintaining its unique regional appeal. “We’re mainly a specialty food manufacturer,” Linda Jacobs said. “Our products can be found in gift shops, tourist areas, and specialty retailers, but not in local grocery stores.”
Customer Loyalty
The shop enjoys a strong local following. Longtime patron Mary Karpe has frequented the store for a decade, valuing its hometown roots. The store also draws out-of-town regulars like John Shanks, who travels over an hour from Congress, Arizona, twice a month to purchase gifts like the Jalapeno Cheddar peanuts.
As the opening of Buc-ee’s approaches, Ass Kickin’ anticipates a shift in dynamics. The new Buc-ee’s, located just across the street, promises to be a major draw.
“We’re all kind of skeptical (about) how this is going to impact traffic, but they’re very popular,” Jacobs commented. “People will travel from all over just to go see this destination. It’s going to bring a lot of revenue to the city of Goodyear.”
Ass Kickin’ distributes its products nationwide through gift shops, tourist spots, and online under Southwest Specialty Food. In contrast, Buc-ee’s opts not to sell their products through their website.
“It’s a completely different business model,” Jacobs explained. “We make something completely different than what they do… We’re all about Ass Kickin’ and Spontaneous Combustion and Hot Sauce from Hell, so those are our brands that we hope people continue to support and find.”
A New Chapter
Regardless of the impact Buc-ee’s might have, both businesses are poised in a thriving economic area. Linda Jacobs emphasized the significance of their strategic location.
“Being on a major freeway like this is very appealing. Again, I-10 is the main freeway from California into Phoenix, there’s people on it all the time, from all over,” Linda Jacobs noted. “Their exposure is phenomenal.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
