Buc-ee’s sets sights on Wisconsin for next expansion

Dive Brief:

Buc-ee’s is looking to expand into Wisconsin, with plans for a new store off Interstate 39-90-94, according the DeForest Planning and Zoning Commission’s Feb. 28 meeting agenda.
The chain’s proposal for the 23-acre site includes over 73,000 square feet of retail space, 120 fuel pumps split among two canopies and over 600 parking spaces — including 20 electric vehicle chargers and 19 accessible spaces, according to the meeting notes.
If the current plan approvals go through, this move would be the 11th state where fans can find a Lake Jackson, Texas-based Buc-ee’s location.

Dive Insight:

Buc-ee’s, well-known for its large footprints and clean bathrooms, has been expanding into a number of new markets recently, with stores expected to open in Colorado and Missouri in 2024. The company is also early in the process for a Reston, Louisiana, site.

These new sites would join existing stores in the chain’s home state along with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee.

If built as expected, the Wisconsin store would be just shy of the chain’s largest planned store, which is currently the 75,000-square-feet Luling, Texas, location being rebuilt.

A diagram of the proposed DeForest, Wisconsin, site. — A diagram of the proposed DeForest, Wisconsin, Buc-ee’s site.

Retrieved from DeForest Planning and Zoning Commission packet.

Because of the volume of traffic the site is expected to generate if built, the commission suggested additional turn lanes, improvements to the interstate ramp and a new stoplight in the area. The commission called the store “an appropriate land use for this location,” noting it would likely be underused by industrial development and would be too noisy for homes or apartments because of its proximity to the interstate.

The commission also noted that Buc-ee’s suggested that some of the alotted gas pumps could be converted to EV chargers in the future.

The traffic patterns were a major reason for the chain settling on DeForest, according to the DeForest Times-Tribune, which first reported the news.

“There’s a constant level of a lot of traffic, and the summer traffic is much greater than that,” the Times-Tribune quoted Stan Beard, real estate director at Buc-ee’s, as saying during the meeting.

Buc-ee’s, which was founded in 1982, has a dedicated customer following thanks to its focus on welcoming restrooms, plenty of gas pumps, fresh food and diverse branded merchandise with the chain’s beaver mascot. It currently has 44 locations.