Buc-ee’s has been on a big building spate lately – with more than a dozen new locations planned in several states.
In fact, if you live in a state without a Buc-ee’s right now (and most of us do), chances are good you’ll be seeing one opening a LOT closer sometime soon.
And leaving aside all the great stuff about Buc-ee’s itself…
(I mean the great food, the clean bathrooms, friendly staff, all the amazing merch)
There’s are three big reasons to be excited when a new Buc-ee’s comes to town:
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#1: Buc-ee’s brings lots of great-paying jobs. Starting pay is $18 an hour, and managers can make quite a bit more than that.
#2: Buc-ee’s brings tourists. Check out any online forum, and you will find tons of loud and proud fans, many of whom will go out of their way to stop at one.
That brings extra visitors and economic activity. (And let’s face it – Buc-ee’s depends on as much as 4 million visitors a year, so there are some big benefits accruing here!)
#3: It forces other local gas stations to up their game. After all, if your competitor has clean bathrooms, amazing food for great prices, tons of merch…you’re going to have to do something to stay in business. This is great for consumers!
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Given all these benefits, this may surprise you, but:
Sometimes local governments drag their feet.
Permits don’t get expedited, or things get tied up in litigation, or what have you.
Of course, sometimes things just get delayed through the fault of precisely no one…
The typical new Buc-ee’s is 70,000+ square feet (which is almost twice the size of your typical grocery store, and 15-30x bigger than other gas stations), and they take 18-24 months to build.
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And there’s been a run of bad luck lately in three separate states, all of which had Buc-ee’s opening dates get pushed out from 2025 to 2026 or later.
Extra disappointingly – for two of the states – this would be their very first Buc-ee’s!
So let’s talk through each delay and what’s going on.
Starting with probably the craziest story of the bunch…
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Ohio’s first Buc-ee’s is slated for Huber Heights, a close suburb of Dayton that straddles I-70 as it passes from Columbus…through Dayton…and on to Indianapolis.
This one has been planned for a long time, but a dispute between Huber Heights and Clark County (Huber Heights is nested within Clark County) led to a weeks-long work stoppage at the Buc-ee’s construction site.
For over a year, the town and county were embroiled in a spat about water rights. (Buc-ee’s uses a lot of water.)
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After lots of back-and-forth (and litigation), eventually they resolved their differences in December, 2024.
Unfortunately, the delay was enough to push out Buc-ee’s planned opening from “late 2025” to “early 2026.”
(I could actually see Buc-ee’s waiting for things to warm up around March or April so they can maximize the crowd size – if so, that would be even more disappointing, because a few weeks of delays in construction would lead to months lost on the timeline.)
Fortunately, things are on schedule from here!
So – a delayed congratulations to Ohio, and fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.
And speaking of going smoothly…
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Our second delayed Buc-ee’s is in Arizona, which also does not currently have any locations.
This one is slated for Goodyear, a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County.
(For those unfamiliar, over 60% of Arizona’s population lives in Maricopa County. So if you’re going to build a massive gas station in the state, that’s the natural place to do it.)
Leaving aside Maricopa County for a minute, the location is planned right off I-10, which runs all the way east to Jacksonville, Florida and is already dotted with Buc-ee’s.
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Buc-ee’s has a distinctly Texas flair, and I-10 is one of the biggest arteries that runs through the state.
Plus, let’s face it, longhaul truckers from all across the South use I-10 as they’re going east-west.
Buc-ee’s currently has locations off I-10 in:
– Luling, Texas
– Katy, Texas
– Baytown, Texas
– Robertsdale, Alabama
(And four more planned, including this one in Goodyear.)
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Buc-ee’s and Goodyear haven’t had much to say about the construction delay, which has pushed out the delivery of Arizona’s first Buc-ee’s all the way out from Christmas 2025 to June 2026.
It certainly doesn’t appear to be due to any unpleasantness like in Ohio, and as far as I can tell, the state and local governments aren’t dragging their feet.
It may just be one of those things (which we’ve all experienced with contractors)…where the timeline just changes because of availability of materials and labor, or weather issues, or what have you.
Nobody’s fault, but disappointing that Arizona has to wait an extra 6-7 months!
But at least they’re going to get one sooner than Florida…
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Before we get too concerned about Florida, it’s important to note that the state already has two Buc-ee’s, in Daytona Beach and Saint Augustine.
(So, Atlantic Coast side.)
Their newest addition is planned for Ocala, about an hour north of Orlando – and Florida actually has two more Buc-ee’s slated to open as well.
But Ocala is the next in line, and it was originally expected to open in 2025.
Then came the big delay.
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Buc-ee’s in Ocala is meant to serve I-75, which runs along the central spine of the state of Florida.
To do that, it needs some road improvements that have been approved by the state of Florida…
But for whatever reason, there’s been a huge delay in putting the project out for bid.
More specifically, Florida Department of Transportation officials plan to start that process in June of 2025.
No way the construction is all wrapped up by the end of the year.
Especially because…
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This won’t be just any Buc-ee’s once it’s completed.
According to some reports, this might just become the new largest Buc-ee’s (and therefore largest convenience store) in the world.
More specifically, there are some indications that Ocala’s Buc-ee’s will be roughly 80,000 square feet, which is just gargantuan by any measure. (And over 4,000 square feet bigger than their current largest store, which is in Luling, Texas and measures 75,593 square feet).
I don’t know what they’ll do to fill it – aside from more beef jerky, more Beaver Nuggets, more coffee and hot foods and merch and…ok, yeah, I guess I see how they’ll fill it. Will there be co-branded Disney merch? Inquiring minds want to know!
But all this to say – I think it’s highly unlikely we see this one delivered in 2025.
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Buc-ee’s is a special kind of place – the great food (try the Beaver Nuggets), the great prices, the great experience.
And I’m so glad to see that Buc-ee’s is continuing to expand into places like Ohio and Arizona – it gives me hope for folks in states like California and Pennsylvania!
(But definitely not New Jersey.)
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And there you have it – three states where Buc-ee’s is delayed from 2025 to 2026 or later.
Of course, maybe one of these states will surprise us and find a way to get Buc-ee’s there sooner.
Stranger things have happened!
But in the meantime, I have just two questions for you…
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#1: Where do you think Buc-ee’s should build next?
#2: What’s the first thing you’ll buy at Buc-ee’s when one opens locally?
Let us know in the comments!
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