South Carolina has one Buc-ee’s now, and two more are in the pipeline

South Carolina already has a Buc-ee’s, but the next ones could be even bigger East Coast travel stories — and one of them has been stuck for years.

Buc-ee’s official location list currently shows one South Carolina store, in Florence at 3390 North Williston Road. The 53,000-square-foot travel center, which has 120 fueling positions, opened May 16, 2022 with Gov. Henry McMaster on hand for the ribbon-cutting. It gave the state its first Buc-ee’s and placed South Carolina on the chain’s growing Southeast expansion map.

Florence was a smart first South Carolina location.

The city sits along I-95 at Exit 170, on one of the most important travel routes on the East Coast. Drivers moving between Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and the Northeast pass through that corridor every day.

That means the Florence Buc-ee’s is not just serving local customers. It is serving vacation traffic, snowbirds, families, college students, beach travelers, and long-distance road-trippers. Demand has been clear since the start — Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin said the company received 6,000 applications for 300 jobs at the Florence opening, with starting pay at $18 per hour and managers earning close to $30.

Now South Carolina has another future location to watch: Hardeeville.

Buc-ee’s official estimated opening list includes Hardeeville, South Carolina, with a projected 2031 opening. That is still years away, but it keeps South Carolina on the company’s future expansion map.

Hardeeville matters because of location.

The city sits near the Georgia border, close to Savannah, Hilton Head traffic, U.S. 278, and I-95. A Buc-ee’s there would be perfectly positioned for drivers moving between Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and the rest of the East Coast. Once complete, it would also be the closest Buc-ee’s to Savannah at just 20-30 miles away, replacing Brunswick, Georgia — currently more than 60 miles south of Savannah.

The Hardeeville project will be 74,000 square feet on a 46.2-acre site at Exit 8 of I-95, within the larger Hardee Station development at the intersection of U.S. Highway 278 and Highway 17. Buc-ee’s Director of Real Estate Stan Beard told Hardeeville City Council the location “by far, requires a 74,000-square-foot store” — meaning it will be one of the largest in the chain. The project is expected to bring approximately 200 jobs.

The long timeline is tied to SCDOT’s I-95 Widening and Exit 8 Redevelopment Project, which is targeted for completion in 2028. A Buc-ee’s this large does not simply open next to an exit without infrastructure planning, especially in a fast-growing area near Savannah and the Lowcountry where traffic and development are already major issues.

But Hardeeville is not the only potential second South Carolina Buc-ee’s. There is also Anderson — and that one has been stuck.

Buc-ee’s has owned more than 30 acres at Exit 21 on I-85 in Anderson County since before 2022, with plans for a 74,000-square-foot store that would also be among the chain’s largest. The project was originally projected to open in 2025-2026, but it has stalled for one reason: the interchange.

Anderson County needs $60-70 million in improvements at the I-85/Liberty Highway interchange before the Buc-ee’s can be built. Engineers have recommended a diverging diamond layout to handle the 22,000 cars that already use the exit each day. But as of mid-2025, only about $6 million of that had been committed — $1 million from Buc-ee’s and $5 million in federal funding secured by Sen. Lindsey Graham. Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns put it bluntly: “They are still committed to building the Anderson location, but the county has to find the funds. Buc-ee’s can’t wait forever.”

So the current count is clear: South Carolina has one Buc-ee’s open in Florence.

The future plan is less clear: Hardeeville is listed for 2031, and Anderson sits in limbo waiting for interchange funding.

If both eventually come through, South Carolina could go from a one-Buc-ee’s state to a three-Buc-ee’s state — with coverage on I-95 in both Florence and Hardeeville, and a third store anchoring I-85 in Anderson. But for now, only Florence is certain.