The famous Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels, once lauded as the biggest travel center ever, will lose its title when a new Buc-ee’s in Tennessee opens and becomes the world’s largest convenience store.
It appears that everything is not bigger in Texas.
For nearly all of its 40-year history, Buc-ee’s gas stations and extraordinarily large convenience stores have been in Texas only. In 2019, the first Buc-ee’s opened outside of the Lone Star State, in Alabama. The company now has six travel centers outside of its home state, with more on the way.
The Buc-ee’s in Sevierville, Tenn., — positioned to be “the first stop on everyone’s Smoky Mountain adventure,” the CEO told a Tennessee TV station — will be the company’s first “Big Store” prototype. It has 120 fuel pumps, a 250-foot car wash and 74,000 square feet of indoor shopping.
That’s the size of five Trader Joe’s.
Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels has the same number of fuel pumps but has a slightly smaller shopping area than the Tennessee behemoth, at 68,000 square feet.
The city posted a teary video to Facebook and TikTok lamenting the news, set to the Taylor Swift lyrics “please don’t be in love with someone else.”
The New Braunfels Buc-ee’s will remain the biggest travel center for now, until the Tennessee shop opens at an unknown date in 2022. It’ll be a “big dang deal” for Tennessee, says thesmokies.com.
Buc-ee’s operates six travel centers on the outskirts of Dallas-Fort Worth and 35 in the state of Texas. Despite whatever’s happening out east, they’re all still pretty dang big.
