Buc-ee’s set to come to Denton by 2018
Julia Falcon | Staff Writer
With one Buc-ee’s up and running on Interstate 35 W in Fort Worth, another one is coming soon in Denton.
The final approval to build the famous gas station and convenience store was received by the Denton planning and zoning committee on May 25 and is expected to open sometime in 2017 or 2018, Denton senior planner Julie Wyatt said, three years after the original proposal was made.
Buc-ee’s beaver will welcome guests as it plans to open a new location in Denton within the next two years. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor
The Denton location will be off of I-35 E and Lillian Miller Parkway, but Wyatt said the construction with Buc-ee’s will be in correspondence to the construction on I-35.
“Buc-ee’s will open when the Brinker Road and other improvements are finished,” Wyatt said. “This project was proposed last November for economic incentives, and after public hearings were held a decision was made.”
The topic is discussed often on the Denton Matters Facebook page, where many people support the addition, saying it will bring more tourists and more jobs.
But there are also plenty who are against it and think it disturbs the distinctiveness and mystique in Denton.
“Personally, I feel that it (Brinker on the access road near the hospital) is a terrible location and could better benefit Denton on the Northern part of town on the Northbound side of I-35, after 35E and 35W merge,” Denton resident Christina Harris wrote on the page.
Kinesiology senior Tyler Sudduth is indifferent about the new store coming to Denton and said it’s just another regular gas station.
“I really don’t care about Buc-ee’s coming to town,” Sudduth said. “I’m from Missouri, so I don’t get all the hype about it.”
Buc-ee’s distribution manager John Taylor said there might not be a difference between the Denton location and others.
“The only thing that could be different is a possible car wash at the Denton location,” Taylor said. “Our car washes are some of the best. The size of the store will be the same, and the amount of gas pumps will be the same when the Denton location is built.”
Buc-ee’s hosts 60 gas pumps and spans over 15 acres in New Braunfels. Buc-ee’s currently has 25 locations including one in Fort Worth. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor
The Fort Worth Buc-ee’s location is located next to Texas Motor Speedway off of I-35 W, which is 20 miles away from the proposed Denton location.
Even though there will be two Buc-ee’s locations within approximately 20 miles of each other, Taylor said he isn’t worried about a loss of customers to the stores.
“When the locations are chosen, they really do their homework. Convenience is important,” Taylor said. “Starting out [in the Fort Worth store] traffic was really heavy, it was heavier than ever.”
Taylor said events such as football games, professional or college, and events at Texas Motor Speedway are a big part of the store’s business.
As far as projecting the outcome and successes of the Denton store, Taylor said the company will just have to wait and see once opening comes around.
“It is good to get a year under a store’s belt so we can get a good feel of the new surroundings,” Taylor said. “So far we are very pleased.”
Featured Image: Buc-ee’s New Braunfels. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor
Exciting! I live near Denton and would definitely frequent Buc-ee’s in our town! I’ve been to the one in Ft. Worth many times and I love it. I hope this is still in the works.
I’m very excited about Buc-ee’s coming to Denton! It is a successful chain and I think this will bring more to Denton! It’ll do very well at the site they’ve chosen to build on. I can’t wait!
when we going to get our first one here in dallas?
How do I submit an application to your store? I am very much interested in applying