It started as a small convenience store in Texas.
Now, the bucktoothed beaver in a red baseball cap is spotted on billboards all across the Gulf South, and it’s coming soon to Harrison County, Mississippi, this spring.
Buc-ee’s sprawling size resembles a grandiose resort rather than a roadside gas station. Without surpassing any of Texas’ locations — where the company maintains its supremacy in size as sacrosanct — Buc-ee’s in Harrison County will be one of the largest in the nation, spanning 74,000 square feet. It will have 126 gas pumps, 24 EV charging stations and 165 toilets.
The corporate chain boasts that its store in Luling, Texas, holds the title of the largest convenience store in the world. The one being built in Harrison County is only about 1,600 square feet less than the record holder.
Twenty three-month old Hunter Rommell and dad Doug Rommell of Mesquite check out the Buc-ee’s mascot during the opening of the Terrell, Texas store in 2015. Buc-ee’s is expected to open a store in Lafayette about mid-2026.
Strategically set on the side of highways and interstates, Buc-ee’s is a pinnacle road trip stop, where the fueling stations appear infinite and the restrooms are dazzling. Ravenous drivers rush in for chopped brisket sandwiches, caramel glazed nuggets and warm praline pecans wrapped in paper cones. Fans clear the merchandise shelves. Families pose with the beaver mascot that wanders aisles and wears a permanent cartoonish grin.
To say the very least, Buc-ee’s is not your average convenience store.
The megastore chain is an undoubtable emblem of Texas pride that flaunts its larger-than-life reputation. Its boost in local economies, cult-like fanbase and heralded products are some of the reasons why small towns like Harrison County take extreme measures to have one of its own.
And if anyone is ready to expand it over to Mississippi, it’s Bill Lavers, the executive director of Harrison County Development Commission.
“We know who you are. We love you. We need you. And we’ll do everything to help you,” Lavers recalled saying to Buc-ee’s director of real estate and development Stan Beard.
Prior to meeting with Beard in October 2021, Lavers was persistently calling the Buc-ee’s corporate office for months, until they told him to stop.
“Borderline got a restraining order,” Lavers joked.
Shortly after, Buc-ee’s opened its first out-of-state location in Riverdale, Alabama. Then, Lavers received the call he’d been waiting for.
A new Buc-ee’s store in Pass Christian
He had an agenda ready for his meeting with Beard, along with ideas for potential sites by Interstate 10. Members of the Mississippi Department of Transportation sat waiting at the table. Buc-ee’s fudge, balloons and stuffed toys were on display in the office.
Beard stepped into the meeting room, laid out a site map and pointed at the Menge Avenue exit. Lavers remembered what Beard said next: “This is where we’re going, and this is what we want to do.”
Construction continues at the future site of Buc-ee’s in Pass Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
The first step of the $80 million investment was repairing a two-lane bridge at the exit in preparation for increased traffic. The bridge hadn’t been touched since 1973.
Contractors hired by Buc-ee’s were in charge of expanding it to five lanes, Lavers said, because government entities would have likely taken longer to build it. Harrison County provided $15 million in funds for its construction, according to Marlin Ladner, president of the county’s Board of Supervisors.
The new bridge officially opened in December.
“They needed our store to take the pressure off of Alabama,” Lavers said. “They knew that that’s what they needed because of the traffic that was going to come.”
Hiring at the new megastore
Filling the store with employees will likely be just as easy as filling it with customers. The company plans to hire over 200 people with starting wages at $20 an hour, plus full benefits and retirement.
But such a competitive compensation package could threaten surrounding local businesses that don’t make nearly the same revenue as a multimillion-dollar chain.
“There’s some that are kind of worried about some cannibalism of their employees just for better pay,” Lavers said.
Buc-ee’s is known for its large stores with dozens of fuel pumps, clean bathrooms and aisles of snacks. In 2016 the chain was considering a Baton Rouge location, but those plans fell through.
He compared the potential market cannibalization to when Buc-ee’s opened its first location in Tennessee, pointing out that stores in Dollywood were forced to increase employees’ wages to keep up with its new competitor.
While it could pose a threat to mom-and-pop shops, the chain could also drastically transform Harrison County into a desirous hub for consumers and business owners. Some businesses have already opened across the street, anticipating an overflow of visitors brought by the megastore.
Five years ago, Lavers drew a development plan for Harrison County that featured Buc-ee’s, when it was just a goal he had. He marveled at what could come next if he ever achieved it. A Chick-fil-A? A Whataburger? A strip mall?
Those are the questions he’s still asking.
“We build things for the future. Not for today,” Lavers said. “And we hope that this is just the beginning of a lot of development in that side of the county.”