As of next month, the biggest Buc-ee’s anywhere will be in Luling, Texas, replacing the current biggest Buc-ee’s in Sevierville, Tennessee. They may not have long to enjoy their title, though: an even bigger one is coming to Florida next year.
The cult-favorite Texas-based gas station/convenience store/tourist attraction chain likes doing things Texas-sized.
The new store is over 75,000 square feet, replacing the company’s first-ever family travel center built at that location in 2003. It has an astounding 120 fueling stations outside and a store famous for row after row of popular store-brand snacks, Beaver nuggets, in-house-created BBQ sandwiches and jerky, beaver-based decor and T-shirts, dozens of scrupulously clean bathrooms, and much, much more.
Of course, the one coming to Ocala in 2025 will have just as many fueling spots and an 80,000-square-foot building, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Marion County planning documents, making it the new biggest Buc-ee’s when it opens, but who’s counting?
In April 2023, DeSantis joined local and state officials and Buc-ee’s CEO and founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin to present a check for $4 million to help speed along a right-of-way purchase needed to move forward and to toss bags of Beaver nuggets to the press. No opening date has yet been announced other than sometime next year.
There are currently two Buc-ee’s in Florida, one in St. Augustine and one in Daytona Beach, and plans for a fourth have been submitted for Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County. After the Luling store opens, Buc-ee’s will have 50 locations in nine states, according to a release from the company.
Buc-ee’s is also partnering with Mercedes-Benz, the car company said in 2023, to add electric vehicle charging stations to most existing locations and all new ones starting this year. At least 30 Buc-ee’s are expected to have premium EV charging stations in place by the end of 2024, although the locations have not been released.
How do the Florida Buc-ee’s compare?
Luling, Texas: 75,000 square feet, 120 fueling stations
St. Augustine: 52,600 square feet, 104 fueling stations
Daytona Beach: 53,000 square feet, 104 fueling stations
Ocala (planned): 80,000 square feet, 120 fueling stations
Fort Pierce (planned): 73,000 square feet, 120 fueling stations
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When is the Ocala Buc-ee’s opening?
Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin said in April last year that he’s “ready to get started.”
The project was estimated for 2025 but no official date has been set and it does not appear in the list of upcoming locations on the company’s website, which include a new Buc-ee’s in Smith’s Grove, Kentucky this month and new locations in Amarillo, Texas and Brunswick, Georgia next year and Rockingham County, Virginia and Boerne, Texas in 2026.
Buc-ee’s may not know. The location won’t be able to open before the new Interstate 75 interchange is completed where it’s going to go. The Florida Department of Transportation has said construction should begin by early 2025.
It also may not be as big as proposed, after all. No Buc-ee’s larger than 74,000 square feet are currently in the works outside Texas, according to a Buc-ee’s spokesperson in an email.
Does the Daytona Beach Buc-ee’s have the world’s longest car wash?
No, sorry, that would be the 255-foot-long Buc-ee’s car wash in Katy, Texas, confirmed as the longest by the Guinness Book of World Records when it opened in 2017, with 17 blowers and 32 vacuum stations.
But the one coming to the Daytona Beach Buc-ee’s will be 235 feet long, a nearly 80-yard-long tunnel of sudsy goodness that will be the longest one in Florida.
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What is Buc-ee’s?
It’s a convenience store gas station, in much the same way that Disney World is a county fair attraction.
Buc-ee’s began in Texas in 1982 and stayed in the Lone Star State for years, but the chain has been making inroads into the Sunshine State and elsewhere. Locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and serve as one-stop shops for travelers and locals.
They’re known for cheap(er) gas at each location’s insane number of gas pumps; stores bigger than your average Publix; a wide variety of hot food, bakery items and fudge prepared on site; a wider variety of store-brand snacks, grocery staples, short sauce and jerky; and a large section of home decor, kitchen utensils, clothing, barbecue grills, Florida souvenirs, and more.
They’re also justifiably famous for their clean bathrooms, which are also enormous. Buc-ee’s was rated by GasBuddy.com as having the cleanest restrooms of any convenience store chain in the nation. And for their starting pay, which is often plainly listed on big display boards outside when they’re hiring.
New Buc-ee’s workers make at least $17 an hour with benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance, full 401(k) matches up to 6% and 3 weeks of paid time off. Florida’s minimum wage is currently $12 an hour or $9.98 for tipped employees, and it will rise again another dollar this year thanks to the amendment Floridians approved in 2020.
In May USA TODAY’s 10Best chose Buc-ee’s as the 10th best for both Best Gas Station Brand and Best Gas Station for Food.
Contributing: Jim Ross, USA TODAY Network-Florida
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Buc-ee’s biggest store coming to Texas. Bigger one coming to Florida
