North Carolina is getting its first Buc-ee’s, but drivers will need to wait a little longer than first expected.
The Texas-based travel center chain is building its first North Carolina store in Mebane, along Trollingwood-Hawfields Road near the I-40/I-85 interchange. The latest target is now the fourth quarter of 2027, meaning the store is expected to open sometime between October and December 2027, according to recent local reports.
That is later than earlier hopes for a May 2027 opening. But the project is moving.
Crews have already been grading the land at the future site, and building construction is expected to ramp up after additional site and road work. The location is planned for a 30-plus-acre plot in Alamance County, roughly between Greensboro and Durham.
And like most Buc-ee’s openings, this will not be a small roadside stop.
Plans for the Mebane store call for a roughly 74,000-square-foot travel center, 120 fuel pumps, a 65,000-square-foot fueling canopy, 20 electric vehicle charging areas, and space for about 650 parking spots. The store is also expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the area.
For North Carolina drivers, the opening matters because Buc-ee’s has become much more than a gas station. The chain is known for brisket sandwiches, Beaver Nuggets, jerky, fudge, road-trip snacks, clean bathrooms, and a merchandise section that can make a quick fuel stop turn into a half-hour shopping trip.
The Mebane location is especially strategic.
It sits near one of the state’s busiest highway corridors, putting Buc-ee’s within reach of drivers traveling between the Triad and the Triangle. That means the store could pull traffic from Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and beyond.
It also gives North Carolina its own Buc-ee’s after years of residents driving to the Florence, South Carolina location to see what the hype was about.
The delay appears to be tied partly to infrastructure. State transportation officials have been installing a second bridge over the interstate and creating a diverging diamond interchange to handle the expected traffic surge, with Buc-ee’s contributing to the cost of the road project.
The bigger news may be that Mebane might not be the only North Carolina Buc-ee’s for long.
Stan Beard, Buc-ee’s director of real estate development, told a Triad Business Journal growth summit in March that North Carolina is “not a one-and-done” for the chain and that the company will have more stores in the state, though no specific future cities have been announced yet.
That means Mebane is not just getting a giant convenience store. It is becoming Buc-ee’s first test of how well the brand can perform in North Carolina.
For now, the state’s Buc-ee’s map is simple: Mebane is under construction, late 2027 is the target, and more North Carolina locations could eventually follow.
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