Special Report
15 Cities Buc-ee's Stores Are Headed to Next (Virginia, Colorado, Wisconsin & Beyond)
Published:
Buc-ee’s has become an absolute phenomenon. Its stores are located along Interstates and are absolutely massive, some with more than 100 gas pumps and hundreds of parking spaces. Devoted Buc-ee’s fans love everything from their sparkling clean restrooms to massive assortment of grab-and-go foods.
For travelers tired of marginal food and dirty bathrooms on long road trips, Buc-ee’s can be an oasis. Unfortunately, Buc-ee’s has long been a regional store. As of 2023 there are 46 locations, and only 12 stores outside of Texas. However, that’s about to change with Buc-ee’s opening in Wisconsin, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, and Missouri.
Let’s dive into 15 cities where Buc-ee’s has announced it’s opening new locations.
This was the first Buc-ee’s proposal in Virginia, but the chain eventually plans to open up four stores in the state. The location of this store will be between Richmond and Williamsburg along I-64. This route gets particularly busy during the summer when travelers head to Virginia Beach.
This will be the northern-most Buc-ee’s location when completed. Presently, there are no Buc-ee’s north of Kentucky. This Buc-ee’s will come with 20 EV charging spaces in addition to 120 gas pumps and 613 parking spaces.
Buc-ee’s currently has two locations in Florida, but they’re expanding southward in the state. Their new location in Fort Piece will be their southern-most store. The location is currently in the pre-application proposal phase, so it’s not known when it will finally open.
Interstate 81 is a busy route that avoids many of the East Coast’s large cities that are often congested. Buc-ee’s is planning a location near Harrisonburg that also include 24 electric vehicle charging stations. This is the second out of four total planned locations in the state of Virginia.
Buc-ee’s planned expansion into Louisiana back in 2016 in Baton Rouge, but the plans eventually fell through. The store would have been Buc-ee’s first outside of Texas, but that honor went to a Florida store instead. The state helped lure a Buc-ee’s with a $6 million appropriation to build a service road that accommodates the store’s traffic.
While 34 of Buc-ee’s current 46 locations are in Texas, there are no locations in West Texas. Opening up a store in Amarillo will be the store’s first location west of San Antonio. Amarillo is the midpoint between Los Angeles and Chicago on Route 66.
While most new Buc-ee’s locations are slated to be about 74,000 square feet, the Ocala location is slightly larger at 80,000 square feet. This makes it their largest planned location to date.
Mississippi will get its first Buc-ee’s when this location situated between Gulfport and Slidell opens in 2025. The store fills in a gap between Buc-ee’s locations in Baytown, Texas and Loxley, Alabama.
Buc-ee’s recently expanded to Kentucky, and this location near Dayton, Ohio will mark the chain’s first store in Ohio. The store is expected to be 74,000 and is 172 miles north of the Buc-ee’s location in Richmond, Kentucky.
Most of Buc-ee’s current expansion is focused on new geographic regions. Its location in Boerne, Texas is the rare exception of a location near one of Texas’ major cities. A reason for this is likely that the location was initially proposed in 2016, but its construction was delayed. The Boerne location will be on the smaller end of new Buc-ee’s being constructed with a 53,471 square foot store.
The new Buc-ee’s location under construction in Johnstown, Colorado is the company’s first expansion west of Texas. The store had a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2022, and is projecting an opening in 2024. Johnstown is about 45 miles north of Denver.
The Buc-ee’s opening in either late 2023 or early 2024 in Springfield, Missouri marks another first on this list. It’s the first Buc-ee’s location in the state of Missouri. This location will sit on I-44 about midway between Tulsa and St. Louis and at the gateway of the Ozarks.
Kentucky welcomes its second Buc-ee’s in Smiths Grove, a small town with just a population of 795 that sits outside Bowling Green. As of late 2023, this makes Smiths Grove the smallest town in the country with a Buc-ee’s. The advantage of Smith’s Grove as a location is that it sits between Louisville and Nasvhille off Interstate-65.
Hillsboro is the only the second Buc-ee’s on this list that’s being constructed in their traditional frootprint in Texas. Hillsboro itself is a smaller city, but it sits on Interstate-35 between Waco and Fort Worth.
Buc-ee’s opened its first South Carolina location in 2022 in Florence. The chain is planning a second South Carolina store upstate in Anderson. Construction on the new store is currently being held up by the South Carolina Department of Transportation reviewing the interchange near where this Buc-ee’s would be built.
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.