The world’s largest gas station? It just opened in Tennessee. But if you want to see history, better get there fast: It won’t be the largest for long.
Late last month, a Buc-ee’s opened in Sevierville, Tennessee, a city in the eastern part of the state known for being the birthplace of country star Dolly Parton. Buc-ee’s is known for its giant-sized fuel centers, which offer barbecue, fudge and souvenoirs along with gas. But the Sevierville station is a different beast.
This fuel station covers 74,000 square feet. Drivers can pull up to 120 gas pumps. More than 350 employees work here.
When it opened June 26, it became the largest gas station in the world.
The new station is open 24 hours a day. Visitors can grab one of Buc-ee’s famed brisket sandwiches or munch on homemade fudge. They can buy t-shirts decorated with the chain’s mascot, a beaver wearing a baseball hat.
The location’s opening was big news, with several Tennessee media outlets covering the event. Even the Today Show did a segment on the opening.
This might seem surprising. Buc-ee’s, after all, is just a gas station. But a survey from Payless Power finds that drivers actually enjoy spending time at gas stations that offer a range of amenities and food items.
For instance, Payless’ survey of 1,011 Americans found that fans of Buc-ee’s stations were willing to drive an average of 21 minutes out of their way to visit one of the chain’s locations, topping the survey.
The same survey found that consumers spend an average of $58.03 every time they visit a Buc-ee’s. That’s pretty good, but it trails the number-one finisher, Wawa. Customers here spend an average of $84.46 with each visit.
On average, Payless Power found, customers spend 20 minutes and $69.95 with every visit to their favorite gas stations.
Survey respondents ranked Buc-ee’s as the country’s second-favorite gas station. It only trailed Costco, which took the top spot in the survey. The worst-rated gas stations in the survey? That’d be Valero, Sunoco and Texaco locations, which took the bottom three rankings in Payless Power’s survey.
What are customers looking for from their gas stations? The top response in Payless’ survey was good quality fuel, cited by 60% of respondents, followed by consistently low prices (55% of respondents) and clean pumps (45%). A total of 44% of respondents said they wanted clean bathrooms, while 41% cited good hours and 35% a clean convenience store.
Headquartered in Lake Jackson, Texas, Buc-ee’s was founded in 1982. Since then, it’s expanded across the United States and is in an aggressive growth mode today.
Buc-ee’s began its latest multi-state expansion in 2019, and has since opened two travel centers in Alabama, two in Florida and two in Georgia. Buc-ee’s broke ground on its first location in South Carolina in 2020, then broke ground on its first Kentucky and Tennessee outposts in 2021, which it followed with two more ground-breakings in Alabama. In 2022, Buc-ee’s announced the development of its first stores in Colorado, Mississippi and Missouri.
The Sevierville location won’t be the chain’s largest for long. Buc-ee’s recently announced that it is planning an 80,000-square-foot location in Ocala, Florida. Later this year, it will also open a 75,000-square-foot location in Luling, Texas.