It's been quite the 25 years for Buc-ee's -- the irreverent beaver-branded gas station that went from Texas exclusive to explosive nationwide growth in just the last few years. The company has more than 15 locations planned over the next few years, including a number of new Texas stores.
But before we can look back at Buc-ee's since 2000, we need to understand where the company started back in the early 1980s.
Buc-ee's founder and CEO Arch "Beaver" Aplin III graduated from Texas A&M in 1980 and just two years later opened the first Buc-ee's in Lake Jackson. After the 1982 inception, Aplin opened the Brazoria Buc-ee's in 1985 and the second Lake Jackson location in 1986.
Nearby city Freeport saw two of its own Buc-ee's open in 1989 and 1991. These five locations are the only to open before the turn of the century, then it was off the races.
After almost a decade of not opening any new locations, Buc-ee's started expanding outside of Houston's Gulf Coast region in 2000 with locations in Port Lavaca and Giddings. Buc-ee's also opened its first locations in Angleton and Alvin. In 2001, the company opened its second Angleton location and its first in Pearland.
Buc-ee's opened one store per year in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with its Eagle Lake, Luling and third Angleton outpost respectively. League City got its first location in 2006 as Lake Jackson got its third, with Pearland getting its second location in 2007.
It was a big year in 2009 with Buc-ee's opening locations in Cypress, Richmond, Wharton and Madisonville, its closest to Aplin's alma mater Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station yet.
Buc-ee's continued its spread throughout Texas, closing in on the San Antonio area and into North Texas. In 2012, its largest location opened in New Braunfels, along with the popular Austin-area stop in Bastrop. The New Braunfels Buc-ee's held the record for its "world's largest" location until the company expanded into Tennessee, but the title was brought back to Texas after the Luling Buc-ee's saw renovations in 2024 that saw the travel stop exceed 75,000 square-feet.
The location in Waller opened in 2013, followed by Texas City in 2014. In 2015, Buc-ee's saw the opening of another Houston-area store with Baytown and then an I-35 stop in Temple.
The Temple location was the starting point for its northward-expansion, which kicked off with the Terrell opening in 2017, Fort Worth in 2017 and Denton in 2018. That year also saw the opening of the Katy Buc-ee's which holds the world record for the world's longest car wash.
Buc-ee's saw a momentous occasion in 2019: the first-ever Buc-ee's outside of Texas in Robertsdale, Alabama. It's the first of numerous locations along the United States gulf coast. Two more North Texas locations opened in 2019 with Melissa and Royse City.
The first half of this decade saw a voracious spread of Beaver Nuggets and beef jerky across much of the southeastern United States. Texas saw the opening of its Ennis Buc-ee's in 2020, while Georgia saw the opening of its first location in Warner Robins.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Buc-ee's trudged on with four openings in 2021. Florida got two locations in its debut year, one in St. Augustine and the other in Daytona each. Alabama got its second location in Leeds and Georgia got its second in Adairsville.
The year 2022 was another for firsts with Kentucky's first location in Richmond, South Carolina's inaugural location in Florence and Tennessee's first spot in Crossville.
Alabama also got its third location in Athens in 2022, and its fourth in Auburn in 2023. Missouri got its first location in 2023 in Springfield, while Tennessee got its brief crown for the largest Buc-ee's when it opened its location in Sevierville.
Colorado became home to the western-most Buc-ee's with its location in Johnstown in 2024. It's the only location for now, as Buc-ee's tries to woo other Colorado residents despite drama in Palmer Lake, near Denver. The legal saga saw Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ask Buc-ee's to relocate plans for the new location as it sits "within one of the most consequential conservation corridors in the United States." The proposed store would be located just south of the 21,000-acre Greenland preserve.
Texas saw its first new stores since 2020 with the opening of the North Texas Buc-ee's in Hillboro, and its most West Texas location in Amarillo. Kentucky also got its second Buc-ee's in 2024 when the location in Smiths Grove opened.
Virginia and Mississippi are now part of the Buc-ee's club, as locations opened in 2025 in Rockingham and Harrison County respectively. Georgia also scored its third Buc-ee's with the location in Brunswick.
Buc-ee's will continue its nationwide expansion for gas station domination with more than 15 new locations planned through the end of the decade. The company recently told CBS News about the planned openings.
In 2026, the company is expected to open a new Texas location in San Marcos, as well as breaking into two new states with new travel stops in Goodyear, Arizona, and Huber Heights, Ohio.
In 2027, the long-awaited Boerne location will allegedly open after more than a decade of planning and roadblocks. It will also be a huge year for Buc-ee's to officially open inaugural locations in a number of states.
Arkansas, Louisiana and Kansas will see the opening of their first-ever Buc-ee's locations in 2027 in Benton, Ruston and Kansas City respectively.
Locations are also expected to open in Oak Grove, Kentucky, Murfreesboro and Gallaway, Tennessee, and St. Lucie, Florida. The location is St. Lucie, Florida, will also reportedly include 11 "bus bays."
Buc-ee's is also eyeing 2028 openings for stores in Ocala in Florida, Lafayette in Lousiana and North Carolina's first store in Mebane.
There's also a projected opening in 2031 set for Hardeeville, South Carolina.