Buc-ee's sues small Georgia convenience store over its mascot
A small convenience store chain in Georgia has a large legal battle on its hands.
Posted
8/6/2026, 10:21:06 AM
Updated
8/6/2026, 10:29:00 AM
By CNN Newsource
A small convenience store chain in Georgia has a large legal battle on its hands.
Teddy's Market is being sued by Buc-ee's for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The Texas-based gas station chain claims the store's bear mascot is similar to its own beaver mascot.
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Customers like Landon Guinn are standing by the smaller chain.
"Buc-ee's is really big and huge, and it's kind of like a mall -- it's kind of hard to get confused with this place," said Guinn, who shops at Teddy's Market all the time.
Teddy's is a small business in Canton, Georgia, with just one other location and a third on the way.
Guinn said there's no way he'd ever confuse the gas station with the Texas-based convenience store giant, but a lawsuit filed by Buc-ee's claims the logos and names are so similar that they could create a likelihood of confusion.
That lawsuit claims a number of trademark infringements, including that both logos are cartoonish, both are arbitrarily wearing hats, they both have white highlights on their eyes and nose, and that both characters show a glimpse of a red or pink tongue.
The lawsuit claims the name Teddy's is also an issue with alleged similarities to the Buc-ee's name in a number of ways, including that they are both two syllables with a hard consonant sound and that both end in the sound "eez."
Customer Kaylee Jordan said she doesn't see it.
"I think it's crazy that they're doing the lawsuit," Jordan said. "I don't see the resemblance at all."
The owner of Teddy's Market, Karan Ahuja, said he created the bear logo back in 2024 to add some fun to their gas station. He said he was surprised that Buc-ee's would come after them and admits there's a lot of pressure when it's a big company like Buc-ee's with all of their resources.
He said they're not backing down, and their customers agree they will back them through it all.
"I love them both ... [I'm a] huge Buc-ee's fan, but I don't agree that it looks like a Buc-ee's -- it's a different animal, different name," said Creigh Chandler, another Teddy's customer. "I don't know if I follow all of that."
Other businesses with anthropomorphic mascots have also received similar legal notices.
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