Is there a new Buc-ee’s coming to Hillsboro? Many road-weary travelers, as well as locals, are hoping so. While not set in stone, the gas station chain that boasts famously clean bathrooms and a beaver mascot may place a fifth location along the I-35 corridor.
There are four locations along I-35: Denton, Fort Worth, Temple, and New Braunfels.
The New Braunfels location is the largest existing Buc-ee’s, but will lose the title in summer 2023 with the construction of a 74,000-square-foot store in Sevierville, Tennessee. However, if a new Hillsboro location materializes, it is expected to be the same size as Tennessee’s.
“We’re always looking for great sites, and we’ve identified the city of Hillsboro as an ideal location,” Jeff Nadalo, general counsel for Buc-ee’s Ltd, told the Dallas Morning News. “We’re working to see if we can make that a reality.”
Nadalo told the San Antonio Express that the company has purchased land for the proposed business at I-35 and U.S. 77, just south of where I-35W and I-35 E meet.
Recently Buc-ee’s has expanded outside of Texas with locations in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Additional stores are opening in April in Kentucky and North Carolina, and future stores are coming to Colorado, Mississippi, and Missouri.
According to Nadalo, the company has been favorably embraced outside of Texas since its multistate expansion began in 2019.
On April 5, the Hillsboro City Council voted on an exemption to allow for the store’s construction. The exemption would authorize the company to build a 125-foot-tall sign tower with the Buc-ee’s beaver on top, which is 25 feet taller than Hillsboro regulations permit.
Based in Lake Jackson, Texas, Buc-ee’s is owned and founded by Arch “Beaver’ Alpin III and Don Wasek and has an estimated revenue of over $500 million.