If you haven’t been to a Buc-ee’s before, let me tell you – you’re missing out.
But if you’re lucky enough to live in one of these seven cities – your wait is soon to end!
Buc-ee’s is expanding rapidly…
In fact, one state is about to get an unprecedented THREE new Buc-ee’s!
And let’s face it:
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
The food.
(Much of it homemade.)
The merch.
The drinks.
The sauces.
Buc-ee’s is fantastic. And if you live in one of these nine cities, you’re about to get one in your own backyard.
Let’s dive right in.
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
Harrisonburg’s new Buc-ee’s will be just down down the street in Rockingham County, Virginia.
Virginia has some funny rules which allow tiny localities like Harrisonburg (population ~50,000) to declare themselves to be cities – even though you and I tend to think of cities as being more like…you know…big cities!
But Harrisonburg also has James Madison University and its 20,000+ students…
Plus their parents and alumni…
And it’s strategically located just off I-81, a popular trucking and tourist route that runs north-south through western Virginia.
Shutterstock
Richmonders rejoice!
Buc-ee’s has broken ground on a 27.7-acre parcel in New Kent County (a Richmond suburb) and expects to open its brand-new store sometime in 2025.
The fact that New Kent is just off I-64 and is a natural stopping point for folks traveling to and from Virginia Beach probably didn’t hurt, either.
Shutterstock
Like Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg is a dinky little city (and it’s tiny, at just 29,000 residents) situated midway between Richmond and Washington, DC.
And neighboring Stafford County is getting a Buc-ee’s that should open, by my estimation, sometime in 2025 or perhaps early 2026.
Commuters to and from DC (and really, just anyone traveling up and down I-95) are about to get an awesome new travel option!
Shutterstock
I’ve noticed that Buc-ee’s does site selection very carefully and intentionally.
It makes sense – there are only about 60 Buc-ee’s nationwide!
And they seem to look for just a handful of criteria when picking new sites.
These three Virginia locations are emblematic of those criteria, which are helpful to understand what Buc-ee’s expansion strategy could look like from here.
More specifically, could a Buc-ee’s be coming YOUR way next…
Shutterstock
Generally speaking, I’ve noticed that Buc-ee’s doesn’t pick sites IN large metropolitan areas.
This makes sense because – well, every Buc-ee’s store is huge, and usually they’re purchasing 20-acre parcels.
That’s super expensive in a place like Washington, DC, or even Dallas-Fort Worth!
But if you buy in one of the suburbs (like Fredericksburg/Stafford)…
Suddenly things get a lot more affordable.
And let’s face it –
Shutterstock
People who are already on the road are looking for a place to stop and stretch their legs.
A big Buc-ee’s, with 50,000+ square feet of hot food, merchandise, and clean bathrooms is perfect.
This isn’t a “pop out to the gas station to fill up the tank” kinda place.
Of course, if you want people already on the road, you need to be near a highway – and ideally between two large destinations.
Look at the Harrisonburg and Richmond locations:
Shutterstock
The Richmond location is ideally situated right on the route to the “seven cities” of Hampton Roads, including Virginia Beach, Williamsburg (think: Colonial Williamsburg), and Portsmouth and Newport News.
And while many of the Richmond suburbs even have gotten pretty expensive (Hanover, Henrico, and Chesterfield are all bursting with new people, gridlock, and tons of new traffic – heck, Chesterfield is even bigger than Richmond City at this point!), New Kent is still pretty sparse.
That makes it an ideal location for a big Buc-ee’s setup.
Turning to Harrisonburg…
Shutterstock
Harrisonburg itself is a destination because of JMU (one of the biggest state schools in Virginia), but it’s also near to Shenandoah National Park.
I-81, which Buc-ee’s is targeting, runs up the western spine of Virginia up from Roanoke and Charlottesville (and UVA, another big state school), and really serves a ton of tourists and locals traveling in the western third of the state.
So this emphasizes Buc-ee’s strategy of picking:
– Cheap parcels of land
– Near big destinations
– So they can vacuum up all of that traffic.
And their next location is an even bigger example of these same tendencies:
Shutterstock
Kansas City’s government gave final approval to Buc-ee’s to build next to the racetrack earlier this year, so now it’s just a matter of time before Buc-ee’s Kansas City opens to the public.
It’s going to be just down the street from the Raceway.
And get this – according to filings, Buc-ee’s expects 4 million people to visit each year.
4 million!
Shutterstock
This one could be huge.
Buc-ee’s is planning to build in Ocala, just north of Orlando.
How much Disney traffic do you think will stop there along the way?
Shutterstock
More specifically, Buc-ee’s is building in Huber Heights, a suburb just north of Dayton.
It’s a strategic location right off the I-70 / I-75 interchange, so lots of traffic coming from all directions.
This will be Ohio’s very first Buc-ee’s!
Shutterstock
Biloxi’s first Buc-ee’s will also be Mississippi’s first Buc-ee’s…
Currently, residents have to drive all the way to Alabama to get to the nearest Buc-ee’s, but that’s all set to change once Buc-ee’s opens up its planned Harrison County location!
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
Ruston is a small, scenic stop along the I-20 corridor that runs from Dallas all the way through Birmingham to Atlanta.
It’s pretty close to both Shreveport and a pair of national wildlife refuges that get tons of visitors every year.
The trip on I-20 is about to get a lot more interesting, as this Buc-ee’s should open sometime this year!
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
That’s right, Louisiana – which up until now has had zero Buc-ee’s – is about to get two!
For reference – the most Buc-ee’s any state currently has aside from Texas is three…in Florida. Although that’s about to change, because Florida will be getting a fourth Buc-ee’s soon!
Anyway, Lafayette is a convenient stop on the I-10 corridor, which runs from Houston through Baton Rouge and down to New Orleans.
That’s a ton of traffic in southern Louisiana (I-20, which runs through Ruston, is in northern Louisiana) that’s about to get a great new stopover option!
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
If you look at a map of the states surrounding Arkansas, you’ll notice that almost all of them have at least one Buc-ee’s.
Poor Arkansas got skipped!
Fortunately, that’s over now, as Buc-ee’s prepares to break ground on its first of two stores (in Benton – the other will be in West Memphis).
Shutterstock
So there you have it – ten lucky cities getting their first Buc-ee’s!
If you don’t live in one of them, don’t worry – at the pace they’re going, I bet there’ll be one coming your way soon enough.
Which brings me to one all-important question:
Shutterstock
Where should Buc-ee’s build next?
Let us know in the comments!
Shutterstock
