DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Mega-convenience store Buc-ee’s will break ground on its Huber Heights location Thursday, and with a fandom rivaling Taylor Swift’s for sheer ferocity, saying it’s long-awaited is an understatement.
Offering brisket, beef jerky, Beaver Nuggets and scads of merchandise, it’s not just a gas station, despite the plan for the Huber Heights location including 240 gas pumps.
“If it were just a gas station, it would be just a gas station, and there wouldn’t be this type of hype around it,” said Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore.
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Gore is partially to blame for the hype. It was his tweet back in August 2023 announcing the future arrival of Buc-ee’s that shocked the region. When complete, the store will be both the first in Ohio and the northern-most for the Texas-based retailer.
Along with the retailer, though, will come the crowds of people, the new payroll taxes infusing the city coffers and the challenges to infrastructure.
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Robert Blythe is familiar with what Gore and Huber Heights are experiencing.
As mayor of Richmond, Kentucky, Blythe was on hand in April 2022 as the new store just south of Lexington flung its doors open to the public.
“It was something I had never experienced before as mayor, so I was excited about it coming,” said Blythe.
He called the retailer a “phenomenon,” comparing it to the hype of Black Friday holiday shopping.
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“There was a lady there, she said ‘I’ve been to all their stores, I have a cap, I have a T-shirt,’” the Richmond mayor said. “I said, ‘That’s wonderful.’ There were folks that would just drive by just to look at it.”
Buc-ee’s is, simultaneously, a magnet for an unprecedented crush of people and utter confusion for those who have not experienced it first-hand.
“You try to explain it,” said Huber Heights’ Gore. “And everyone looks at you like you’re crazy because you can’t explain it until you visit one.”
Because of numerous visits to see his son in Texas, Gore knows the mania that the “Buc-ee’s Experience” inspires.
The hype is not the only thing coming to Huber Heights, however. Buc-ee’s is also bringing the very real traffic concerns in what is already a busy area adjacent to I-70.
But Gore said Buc-ee’s has a plan.
“Of the 700-page development plan from Buc-ee’s, over 500 pages of it was just about traffic,” said Gore. “So people can navigate that.”
One part of the plan includes a dedicated exit lane just for Buc-ee’s.
In the end, any traffic trouble will very likely be worth it for the residents of Huber Heights. The amount of traffic – all non-semi-truck – packing that exit landing and pouring into Buc-ee’s will create approximately 200 jobs for residents, injecting significant revenue into the city’s wallet.
“I know they are going to add a healthy number to our bottom line when it comes to overall revenue,” said the Huber Heights mayor, “but I have no way of projecting what that’s going to be, but we’re happy they are coming and any revenue that it generates for the city is great.”
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Richmond’s mayor knows that feeling. Blythe said the store has had an impact on the city’s payroll tax.
“When I go to some of our regional meetings, the first thing people ask me is, ‘How’s Buc-ee’s doing?’” said Blythe. “Buc-ee’s is doing well. Trust me. They are doing well.”
Blythe did say that while the store management does things its own way, they are “great members of the community.”
He does have one piece of advice for Gore and Huber Heights: “Get ready. Get ready. Get ready.”
Gore said he’s ready, and from a business perspective, so is Huber Heights.
The Buc-ee’s project is part of the city’s push to grow in its eastern portion, adding to the Executive Boulevard expansion where the Rose Music Center is currently flourishing.
Several restaurants are already open there, with plans for even more to follow.
Coming Wednesday: 2 NEWS takes you on a field trip to Richmond, Kentucky, to experience “Buc-ee’s Mania” first-hand.
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