Buc-ee's to Put Its Texas-Sized Stamp on Florida

LAKE JACKSON, Texas — Buc-ee's is preparing to set up shop in Florida, bringing its Texas-style reputation with it.

The convenience store retailer — known for its size and its bathrooms — has plans on the drawing board to build a c-store and gas station in Daytona Beach, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The retailer, the news outlet reported, has agreed to buy a 35-acre site on the north side of LGPA Boulevard, just east of Interstate 95. The 50,000-square-foot location could open next year.

The Buc-ee's store "would be the biggest one (in the state) I can think of," said Ned Bowman, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association. "Some of the Love's and Pilot (truck stops) are quite big, but they are probably only half the size (of Buc-ee's)."

The Daytona Beach location would be the first Buc-ee's store outside of Texas. In March 2016, the retailer was moving forward with plans to build on a 15-acre site in Baton Rouge, La. — which would have been its first site outside the Lone Star State. However, the company canceled those plans later in the year because it was unable to secure additional locations in Louisiana, as CSNews Online previously reported.

At the time, Jeff Nadalo, the company's general counsel, said Buc-ee's business model is to operate numerous stores near each other to "overcome the regulatory costs, management costs, and out-of-state costs" associated with operating the business.

Lake Jackson-based Buc-ee's operates 32 locations.