Buc-ee’s News
Buc-ee’s Projects and Openings
Explore the impact and excitement around Buc-ee’s projects across different locations.
Johnstown, CO
Pre-Opening: Economic Impact
Watch the Video
Grand Opening Highlights
Grand Opening 1
Grand Opening 2: Mayor’s Speech & Colorado’s First Buc-ee’s Opening
News Articles
Buc-ee’s Opens in Colorado
Mebane, NC
General Information
Buc-ee’s: The ‘Disney World of Gas Stations’ with Concerns in NC
What’s the Hype with Buc-ee’s?
City Impact
City Officials Weigh in on Economic & Tourism Impacts of Buc-ee’s Arrival
Buc-ee’s News
Buc-ee’s Likely Impacting Beefy Sales Tax Collections
By Blake Silvers [email protected]
Dec 17, 2021
State and local tax revenues continued their upward trends for November, up 17% statewide.
Locally, sales tax distributions continued an upward trend seen throughout the year, nearly doubling recent trends that were already up significantly.
“We’re up dramatically on SPLOST and LOST collections,” County Administrator Jim Ledbetter said at the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting.
The county reported a 30.92% ($268,550) local SPLOST increase in October for 2021 over the previous year, and a 30.85% ($169,870) in LOST collections. The dramatic local increase may be the result of a recent retail addition.
“We had been running up about 17% … as far as we can tell, this may be the impact of Buc-ee’s,” Ledbetter said. “That means out-of-town money is funding us.”
Buc-ee’s, the Texas-based fuel station and retail chain, opened its second Georgia location in Gordon County in late August, and has drawn extremely large crowds of both locals and interstate travelers since day one.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised,” Gordon County Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Kathy Johnson said. “Going in, we had an anticipation we were going to see an increase in not only food and fun, but also fuel. I think they’re proving to exceed what we anticipated and what we had projection.“
Johnson also expressed her pleasure over the out-of-town money Ledbetter referenced that an attraction like Buc-ee’s tends to generate.
“We had a sizable influx of traffic over labor day weekend, and that’s starting to show up now,” she said. “It’s tremendous, and with our sales tax we’re relying on the extra penny for SPLOST, but it’s also an extra penny on ESPLOST helping fund our local services, schools other projects, which results in a reduction in local taxes.”
Florence City Officials Weigh-In on Economic, Tourism Impacts from Buc-ee’s Arrival
Updated: 11:36 PM EDT May 25, 2024
Here’s Florence city leaders’ perspective about what it was like bringing a Buc-ee’s to their area, and some of the challenges and impacts the mega-store brought.
“We’re about to go inside, and I’m pretty excited to see what it’s like after hearing so much about it,” said Lucy Franks, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“We’re right by the bakery because I have to get a lemon bar one more time before we head home,” said Erin Bereck, from Delaware.
“My favorite part about Buc-ee’s is the whole store because it has tons of cool things in it and a lot of cool things that are super fun,” one kid said.
Fanfare all over a gas station has been mind-blowing to leaders in Florence, South Carolina.
“It’s really been a site for tourism,” said Teresa Myers Ervin, Mayor Of Florence. “People are literally coming to Buc-ee’s as a tourist site.”
“It’s actually exceeded the expectations of Buc-ee’s and of the community,” said Michael Miller, the president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
According to the city’s economic development department, $4.6 million is how much Buc-ee’s visitors annually bring into the city. Economists say the Disney World of gas stations has an estimated local sales tax revenue of more than $1 million and draws is in $1 million per day on just key traffic days alone. Myers-Ervin says bringing a Buc-ee’s to her city required a lot of pre-planning and feedback. As you can imagine during the planning phase the main concern was traffic. “We had to address the traffic flow from that site without causing any congestion or overwhelming the site,” Myers-Ervin said. “So you may notice when you’re leaving out there, you have the lanes, you have the circle, and you have the traffic circle.
Buc-ee’s Provides Economic Boom to Sevierville
By Jared Austin
Published: Jun. 17, 2024 at 4:46 PM CDT|Updated: Jun. 18, 2024 at 7:37 AM CDT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Buc-ee’s has brought in millions of people from across the country to its Sevierville location. City of Sevierville officials said with millions of visitors comes a lot of tax revenue for the city.
The Sevierville Buc-ee’s has stayed pretty busy year round. On average, it brings in 20,000+ people a day.
Buc-ee’s customer Audrey Chesnet said, “Everyone needs to go to Buc-ee’s.”
She and her sister, Casey Ward, wanted to visit the Buc-ee’s for a variety of reasons.
“I just think it’s adorable,” Ward said.
Chestnet said, “When you see the signs when you travel, you know you’re getting quality, and you know you can find anything.”
City of Sevierville officials said 8.5 million people visited the Sevierville location in its first year. They also said the Buc-ee’s helped provide a 17% increase to the city’s restaurant tax revenue.
Deputy city administrator in Sevierville, Dustin Smith, said, “We’re talking more in the millions of dollars ranges.”
Buc-ee’s is a tip of the iceberg for the development of Exit 407. There are already plans to bring more attractions to the area.
“It’s just going to be a huge economic impact in that area, specifically where that Buc-ee’s is, and there’s also the potential for 120 acres developed on the other side of the interstate surrounding the stadium,” Smith said.
Smith said it’ll likely be years before people see any new developments there. Across the interstate at the current home of the Tennesse Smokies, Smith said the city doesn’t have a plan yet once the team moves to Knoxville.
Copyright 2024 WVLT. All rights reserved.
Buc-ee’s Tax Revenues Helping Build Rec Center, Fire Hall
By Cheryl Duncan
The recreation and aquatic center under development in Crossville could very well be the facility that Buc-ee’s built.
“Thanks to Buc-ee’s, we’ve increased our sales tax close to $4 million on top of what we’ve been doing year over year,” said Crossville Mayor RJ Crawford. “So not only are we building a rec center, we’re also going to be building a new fire hall. We’ve also doubled our budget on roads — all from sales tax.”
Crawford made the proclamation last week in answer to a city resident’s query during Crossville City Council’s monthly work session. David Brockway interrupted discussion about the pending bond sale with a question that’s been asked repeatedly in the past few years.
“How are you going to pay for it?” he asked. “You’ve got a bond of $38-$40 million. How are you going to pass it on to the taxpayer?” Crawford replied, “It’s coming from sales tax,” to which Brockway responded, “You’ve got $40 million in sales tax?”
That’s when Crawford said the Texas-based mega convenience store that opened on Genesis Rd. in the summer of 2022 has added mightily to the city’s sales tax base, with tourists flocking in regularly for gas, food and the overall Buc-ee’s experience.
“And all that’s coming in from outside the county,” he added.
Council member Rob Harrison said population growth, in addition to Buc-ee’s, has contributed to additional revenues that are allowing the city to take on new projects, including the recreation center and its indoor pool facility.
“No increase in property tax?” Brockway asked. “Absolutely not,” replied Harrison. Crawford said he is grateful to former Mayor James Mayberry and the previous council for “having the foresight to put in a Buc-ee’s. The amount of sales tax and the amount of businesses coming in from that — it’s a game changer,” he said. “It’s a lot for our small community to make substantial investments.”
How would a proposed Buc-ee’s impact the Monument Hill area? Just ask Johnstown, Colo.
By Tyler Cunnington
December 5, 2024 8:26 PM
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – Following the proposal for a Buc-ees location near Palmer Lake off of I-25 in El Paso County, Johnstown city officials who welcomed the first Beaver-themed travel stop in 2024, are sharing how the famous chain has impacted their area.
Last month, it was announced that Buc-ees was eyeing a new location to be built off I-25 and County Line road near Palmer Lake. The proposal has left Monument Hill residents up in arms, with an online petition against the Buc-ees now accruing nearly 3,000 signatures.
Residents in the Monument and Palmer Lake area then made their voices heard at a fiery public meeting on Tuesday night, where Buc-ees developer team members were in attendance to answer questions.
The meeting became rowdy rather quickly, with area homeowners expressing grave concerns over traffic buildup, which will only be worsened by messy weather conditions, as well as the strain of high water demand, and energy, it will have on the small-town community.
Residents even shared their experience having traveled to the Buc-ees that was built just outside Johnstown along the interstate, where they claim that neighbors say the traffic back-ups can often times be severe, forcing locals to take earlier exits to avoid the traffic to get to their homes.
KRDO13 spoke with an official from Johnstown to learn about the impact the small community has faced since the Buc-ees’ emergence March 2024.
The Johnstown location is situated just north of the Denver metro area at the southwest corner of Interstate 25 and County Road 48. According to our 9News partners in Denver, the location is 74,000-square-feet, with 116 fueling positions and 12 EV charging stations.
Sarah Crosthwaite, the Economic Development Manager for Johnstown says that since it’s opening — Buc-ees has created at least 250 jobs, and brought more traffic to their other shopping centers in town.
“They’re good paying jobs, so we’re excited about that.” said Crosthwaite.
One family owned liquor store right across the street from the Buc-ees, tells KRDO13 over the phone that they were initially concerned when the 74,000 square foot travel stop was going to become their neighbor, but stated that conversely, their business has actually become better.
They say it’s because of more drivers passing by, and because of Buc-ees only having the ability to sell beer and wine, but not liquor.
When it comes to traffic, Monument Hill homeowners claimed that a Buc-ees off of County Line Road, would clog up the interstate.
Crosthwaite says that Buc-ees made several road improvements to County Road 48, where the Johnstown location is situated, during its construction, on top of projects that the town did itself, working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
“Yes, there was some traffic concerns in the beginning, but the roads were able to adequately handle the folks that were coming in.” explained Crosthwaite.
One man on Tuesday night however, said that he even drove to the Johntown location, ahead of the public meeting to speak to employees and neighbors that live near the famous convenience chain. While speaking on the microphone, he recalled that a resident who lives near the Buc-ees says traffic can certainly cause headaches.
“I had to go two exits down to get on and off the highway from my house because the traffic was so bad.” the man said, referring to the anecdote that a nearby neighbor told him.
Those living around Monument Hill also explained their grave concerns about water demand, and the strain that such a large travel stop would put on their small community.
However Crosthwaite stated that Buc-ees, had guidelines they had to follow, and handled that concern all by themselves.
“So like any development, or any user coming into our community, we expect those developers or users to bring water with them.” said the Economic Development Manager. “We do not have a cache in the program. And so Bucky’s is no different for that. In order for them to have developed and been able to get construction acceptance, they have dedicated water that supports their demand on our system.” she said.
As far as tax revenue earned by the Buc-ees’ emergence in their community, Johnstown officials did not have the exact figure to provide on Thursday, because that data is traced by the State.
However, Croswaithe assured that good impacts are being felt in the community.
“What I can say with our experience having a Buc-ees here, it’s been positive.”
Crosthwaite did not make any comments or give any notion of endorsements in regard to the proposed Buc-ees near Palmer Lake, but instead wished to offer observations to KRDO13 of their experience thus far.