Round Rock-based Wag-A-Bag to be acquired, name to eventually be changed

Round Rock-based gas station and convenience store Wag-A-Bag has entered an agreement to sell its assets to Refuel Operating Co. LLC, a Charleston, South Carolina-based gas station and convenience store business.

Wag-A-Bag was founded in 1964 by the Rabb family and has 16 locations in the Austin metro. The Rabb family has community ties in the city and donated land for the Rabb House near Brushy Creek.

The first store was built at 701 E. Palm Valley in Round Rock to serve a rural small town. At the time, the city had 1,800 residents.

Wag-A-Bag CEO Cary Rabb said with increased competition, the timing was right. Because Refuel has a similar business culture that values its employees and customers, Rabb said he felt it was a good fit.

“[Refuel is] rapidly growing, they would retain all of our employees, so there’s a lot of pluses to that. I think Refuel was a great selection,” he said.

The acquisition is expected to be official later in 2021.

Rabb will help Refuel during the transition period but will not stay on with the company long-term, Refuel Chief Development Officer Travis Smith said.

Wag-A-Bag locations will keep the name for a period of time but will eventually be renamed Refuel. The Rabb family wanted to keep the Wag-A-Bag name in the family, Smith said.