If you’ve ever been to a Buc-ee’s before, you’re one of the lucky few.
After all, it’s in just nine states so far (here’s the full list), with the majority of locations still in Texas.
Fortunately, Buc-ee’s has been on a tear lately, with more than a dozen new locations planned, including expansion into several surprising new states.
Of course, growth comes at a cost…
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No, I’m not talking about a decline in Buc-ee’s excellent food quality.
(Nor are they raising prices, unlike some I could name. Looking at you, Waffle House.)
The bathrooms are as clean as ever.
The merchandise as cool as ever.
And the staff as friendly as ever.
No, the price is: Complaints.
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Lots of people love that Buc-ee’s brings good-paying jobs, millions of visitors, and lots more sales tax revenue to the area.
Others complain about the traffic, the noise, the crowds, the fact that a new Buc-ee’s forces local gas stations to step up their game.
(Can you guess which side I’m on?)
Often these complaints come in the form of letters and speakers at local board meetings.
Sometimes, though, they go a step further – to lawsuits.
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These lawsuits rarely seem to be about Buc-ee’s itself per se – it’s always something else.
But they can cause significant delays – and in one case, even a full withdrawal by Buc-ee’s.
To see what I mean, let’s start with setback number one – in Ohio…
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Buc-ee’s first planned Ohio location (in Huber Heights, just north of Dayton) started off well enough.
It was approved in 2024, and Buc-ee’s broke ground on August 8th, 2024, with a planned grand opening sometime in late 2025.
And then in November, things went a little off the rails.
A building the size of Buc-ee’s (70,000+ square feet, with lots of food prep, tons of bathrooms, etc.) will naturally require quite a bit of water and sewage.
And the city of Huber Heights and Clark County had a months-long disagreement around who would be fulfilling those service needs.
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When the disagreement became litigation – again, to be clear, not litigation targeting Buc-ee’s – Buc-ee’s ended up having to stop work for several weeks starting in November.
Fortunately, Clark County and Huber Heights ultimately worked out their differences, and construction resumed in December.
But the delays were sufficient to push Ohio’s first Buc-ee’s opening to 2026 from late 2025.
Not the end of the world, but still a surprising (and unnecessary) delay thanks to all the infighting.
The bigger setback, though, comes from Colorado…
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Colorado got its first Buc-ee’s in March of 2024, and Buc-ee’s has been eager to expand further.
More specifically, it has been going through the approval process with the town of Palmer Lake, which would give Buc-ee’s easy access to I-25 between Colorado Springs and Denver.
Really, a perfect location for Buc-ee’s in a lot of ways.
It’s between two large metros at a natural stopping point – so, there’ll be lots of traffic for Buc-ee’s to vacuum up.
Plus, the town council has been quite cooperative.
There’s only one problem…
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Lots of locals voiced their displeasure…some local groups started rallying against it…
And eventually there was a lawsuit targeting the town itself!
The lawsuit essentially claimed that the annexation process to get the land to Buc-ee’s was illegal.
In response, Buc-ee’s pulled its annexation request entirely due to a “technical issue.”
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The immediate future is unclear.
Buc-ee’s has indicated that they still want to make the location happen, so it may be that they refile the request after handling whatever technical issues were at play.
Or it may be that they ultimately decide to go somewhere else between Denver and Colorado Springs.
(There are plenty of towns that I’m sure would leap at the chance to quickly secure 200 or so jobs paying a minimum of $18 an hour.)
But fact of the matter is that this is a big setback for Buc-ee’s in Colorado, at the very least setting their timeline back by several months.
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These setbacks are frustrating, for sure…
But the benefit of the thoughtful, slow way Buc-ee’s has grown is that it has tons of other growth options in the pipeline…
Isn’t relying on a “growth at all costs” mindset…
And isn’t compromising on the quality of its food, goods, or services.
And for that, as a longtime customer, I’m certainly grateful!
But here’s the big question…
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Knowing that Buc-ee’s is expanding rapidly all across the USA – especially throughout the southern half of the country, but also in places as far north as Wisconsin and Ohio…
Where do you think Buc-ee’s should grow next?
Make your best pitch in the comments!
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