Missouri still has only one Buc-ee’s, and the company has not added a second in-state project since this examination of Missouri’s chances of joining the two-Buc-ee’s club.
The Springfield travel center remains Missouri’s only confirmed location.
It opened December 11, 2023, at 3284 N. Beaver Road beside Interstate 44. The 53,000-square-foot store includes 120 fueling positions and brought more than 200 jobs to the area.
Springfield was a strategic first choice. I-44 connects St. Louis with Tulsa and carries visitors toward Branson, northwest Arkansas and the Ozarks. The store also sits along historic Route 66, one of the country’s most recognizable road-trip corridors.
Local enthusiasm was so strong that Springfield renamed Mulroy Road as Beaver Road before the store opened.
Missouri is missing from the future schedule
Buc-ee’s current estimated-opening list includes projects extending through 2031, but it does not identify another Missouri location.
There has been no confirmed land purchase, development agreement or local approval for a second store within the state. That means Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis remain possibilities rather than active projects.
I-70 would be the most obvious expansion corridor. A store somewhere between Kansas City and St. Louis could capture cross-state traffic while reaching a different customer base than Springfield.
The St. Louis region could also provide access to I-44, I-55, I-64 and I-70, although Buc-ee’s typically favors large exurban sites rather than congested urban locations.
Kansas City is getting one—but it will be in Kansas
The closest thing to another Buc-ee’s for many Missouri residents is the store planned near Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
That project is expected to open in 2027 near Interstate 70 and Interstate 435. Its location should make it easily accessible to people living on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
However, it will still be a Kansas store. It will not increase Missouri’s official Buc-ee’s count.
That distinction matters because excitement over the Kansas City project can make it sound as though Missouri has secured its second location. It has not.
For now, Springfield remains Missouri’s only Buc-ee’s. The state has several highways that fit the company’s strategy, but no second Missouri project has been publicly confirmed.
Links on this page may be affiliate links, for which the site earns a small commission, but the price for you is the same
Leave a Comment