Buc-ee’s to open largest location yet next month in Texas

Buc-ee’s will open its doors to its 50th location and its largest travel center in the country on June 10 in Luling, Texas, the town “where the legend began,” 21 years after it opened its first family travel center in the city in 2003.
The original Luling location will be replaced by the new 75,000-square-foot rest stop, an almost 40,000-square-foot increase. The original travel center was just over 36,000 square feet.
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“In the past, [the Luling store] was one of the biggest locations of any travel center,” director of operations Josh Smith said. “Now that we’ve grown and expanded, we’re just wanting to bring that title back to Luling since that’s where it all started for us.”
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The company’s travel centers are known for their size and wide range of products and merchandise. The Luling center will have at least 200 employees, 120 fueling positions and thousands of food and drink options, according to a statement from Buc-ee’s. The store will serve barbecue, fudge, Beaver Nuggets, jerky, pastries, kolaches and more.
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Luling is in South Texas, nearly 60 miles east of San Antonio off of Interstate 10.
Buc-ee’s is a convenience store chain founded in Clute, Texas in 1982. Smith said the brand’s first stores were average convenience stores with 6-12 pumps. But in 2003, the company built its first “family travel center” in Luling, expanding on the original rest stops.
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In 2019, Buc-ee’s began a multi-state expansion and now has rest stops in more than ten states across the South, including 35 currently open in Texas alone.
“It’s extremely important for us because Texas is our roots,” Smith said. “Bringing it all back home is one of those things that’s extremely prideful.”
The Luling travel center is just 1,000 square feet larger than the three next largest Buc-ee’s centers. Sevierville, Tenn., Hillsboro, Texas and Johnstown, Colo. each have 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s locations but will be just barely surpassed by the store opening in Luling.
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The 51st location will open a week after the Luling location opens its doors. Smith said the 53,000-square-foot travel center will be in Smiths Grove, Ken.