Arizona will cut the ribbon on its first Buc-ee's store in Goodyear on June 22, a 74,000-square-foot travel center with 120 fueling positions near Interstate 10 and Bullard Avenue, kicking off an expansion wave that will plant the Texas-born chain's flag in at least six states where it has never operated before.
Arkansas follows weeks later. Bill Eldridge, chairman of the City of Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission, told local outlet KATV that the Benton location, at the northwest corner of I-30 and State Highway 299, is targeting an early-to-mid-August grand opening.
Those two openings are just the front edge. The New York Post reported that Wisconsin, Louisiana, Kansas, and North Carolina are all slated to welcome their first Buc-ee's locations by the end of next year, a build-out that would stretch the company's presence from 12 states and 55 current locations to roughly 20 states in under two years.
For anyone who has driven past the beaver-logoed megastops along Southern interstates, the numbers are familiar. For the rest of the country, they are about to find out what the fuss is about.
The timeline is aggressive. After Arizona and Arkansas open this summer, Wisconsin's first Buc-ee's, a 73,370-square-foot travel center with 120 gas pumps at the southwest corner of I-94 and Elm Road in Oak Creek, is expected to open in early 2027. The Oak Creek city government confirmed the planned location.
Louisiana's first site, in Ruston at the intersection of I-20 and Tarbutton Road, is targeting a mid-2027 opening. The city of Ruston said the travel center will span more than 70,000 square feet and include over 100 fuel pumps.
Kansas City, Kansas, is projected to receive a 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee's sometime in 2027 near I-70 and West Village Parkway. And WXII reported that Mebane, North Carolina, expects its location to open in the fourth quarter of 2027.
That's four brand-new state debuts in a single calendar year, on top of the two opening this summer.
The expansion doesn't stop at first-timers. States that already host Buc-ee's are getting additional locations. Travel centers are expected to open next year in Monroe County, Georgia; Lafayette, Louisiana; St. Lucie and Tallahassee, Florida; Gallaway, Tennessee; and Fayette County, Arkansas. When Ohio's first Buc-ee's topped $1 million in opening-day sales in Huber Heights, it demonstrated the kind of consumer appetite that makes this pace of growth possible.
Texas itself isn't done, either. The Austin American-Statesman reported that the Lone Star State will open its 37th Buc-ee's in San Marcos in July.
Oak Grove, Kentucky, is expected to receive a location in 2027 or later. And one project has slipped: the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported that the West Memphis site has been pushed to June 2028.
Each new Buc-ee's is not a gas station in any ordinary sense. The footprints run between 70,000 and 74,000 square feet, larger than most grocery stores, with 100 to 120 fueling positions per site. These are destination stops, built along major interstate corridors, designed to pull travelers off the highway for barbecue, jerky, fudge, and enough clean restrooms to handle a holiday weekend surge.
That model has generated a following bordering on devotion. Thousands camped overnight when the Ohio location opened, a scene that has repeated in state after state as the chain moves north and east.
The competitive landscape is tightening. Sheetz recently announced a $1 billion bet on Indiana with 100 new stores, part of a broader push by convenience-store chains to claim Midwest territory before rivals lock it down. Buc-ee's Oak Creek opening will test whether the brand's Texas-sized format translates in a Wisconsin winter.
Buc-ee's hasn't publicly explained the strategic reasoning behind the acceleration, and no company spokesperson was quoted laying out a growth thesis. But the pattern speaks plainly enough. The chain picks interstate interchanges in states with growing populations, friendly business climates, and heavy highway traffic. Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Wisconsin all fit that description.
Not every community rolls out the welcome mat without debate. A proposed Buc-ee's in Stafford, Virginia, divided residents over traffic, land use, and the sheer scale of the development. The same tensions are likely wherever a 74,000-square-foot travel center drops into a small town's zoning map.
But local officials in the current expansion round sound enthusiastic. Eldridge's tone in Benton was celebratory:
"We're happy to announce that it looks to be early to mid-August that the grand opening will take place."
Cities like Ruston and Oak Creek have publicly confirmed their sites and timelines, signaling that local approvals are in hand.
The Goodyear opening on June 22 will be the most immediate test. Fox 10 Phoenix reported the date and location, near I-10 and Bullard Avenue, and Buc-ee's has also announced a separate Arizona location near the California border, suggesting the company sees the state as a two-store market at minimum.
Arizona's position along the I-10 corridor between Texas and Southern California makes it a natural fit. Millions of drivers cross that stretch every year, and the nearest Buc-ee's has been hundreds of miles away in Texas.
Several details remain unclear. The company hasn't disclosed construction costs, job-creation projections for individual sites, or the total capital behind the expansion. The exact year references, "later this year," "next year," "by the end of next year", suggest a 2026, 2028 window, but Buc-ee's has not published a master timeline with firm dates for every location.
The West Memphis delay, pushed from an earlier target to June 2028, hints that not every project will land on schedule. Construction timelines, permitting snags, and supply-chain realities have a way of rewriting corporate calendars.
Still, the scope is hard to argue with. Going from 55 locations in 12 states to a 20-state footprint in roughly two years would mark the most ambitious stretch in the chain's history.
In an economy where plenty of companies are pulling back, trimming hours, and hedging against uncertainty, a Texas travel-stop chain is betting big on highways, barbecue, and the simple proposition that Americans still want to drive. That's the kind of confidence the market could use more of.