Is Buc-ee's Coming to New Jersey Soon?

Wawa continues to grow and expand. The company now boasts well over 1,000 locations, with dozens more being built up and down the East Coast and as far west as Indiana.

Another growing retail chain, Buc-ee's is adding locations - but at a much slower pace. There are less that 60 Buc-ee's locations in the USA, and most of those are in Texas.

I recently had a chance to visit one of Buc-ee's locations in South Carolina - and, I came away stunned.

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Buc-ee's in South Carolina

Having heard people talk about Buc-ee's like they were the "next Wawa" did not prepare me for what I found in Florence, South Carolina.

Let me put this simply: Buc-ee's is nothing like Wawa. Not even close.

A small corner of Buc-ee's might be like a Wawa, but that's where the similarities end. Buc-ee's is many times the size of even the biggest Wawa. Many times!

Just getting to the Buc-ee's location was a thing, because so many people were heading to the same place. The Buc-ee's in Florence is right off I-95, but to get there you have to travel thru throngs of traffic, and along some roads that were specially built for the property.

How big is the property that Buc-ee's sits on? There's an actual traffic circle you must navigate just to go into the actually parking lot!

Once you find a parking space - if you find a parking space - it'll probably be a little walk just to get into the store.

Outside, you'll find the biggest gas station you've ever seen. I'm guessing well over 100 gas pumps!

What you find inside a Buc-ee's location

The one thing that hit me the most in my two visits to this particular Buc-ee's location was the gaggle of people. Lots of people. Hundreds of people!

The inside is like a small Walmart pack with hundreds of people!

There's a small "convenience-store-like" section of the store, but that's just a small part of what you'll find. There are a lot of fresh food choices in the middle of the store, complete with people cutting up meat, to others making fresh tortillas, to still more making fresh sandwiches.

If you're going to try one thing at Buc-cee's, I recommend the fresh beef brisket BBQ sandwich. They crank them out by the dozens, and they are so delicious!

I've included lots of photos below to check out of inside the store - and, yes, all the people!

The restroom situation at Buc-ee's

One of the big surprises in the store was the restrooms. The lines are massive, but they move very quickly. The restrooms themselves are massive, the biggest I've ever seen.

The restrooms are also very nice! The men's room featured many urinals, with walls between every unit. (That's some nice privacy!)

The stalls all have top-to-bottom doors on them, fit for privacy. I didn't notice this in the men's room, but I'm told that in the women's room, there were attendants directing customers into open stalls. They were that busy!

Different places, different spaces at Buc-ee's

Like a Walmart, Buc-ee's has several different departments in the store, and I imagine one could shop for hours. Yes, there are even Buc-ee's souvenirs!

Oh, the employees! There were scores of them - all outgoing and extremely friendly. These people were trained to do their job!

Is Buc-ee's coming to South Jersey?

There has been no word from the company about expansion into the Garden State. If there is in the future, I'd be surprised.

Buc-ee's calls itself a "travel center." With locations on major highways, a lot of traffic passes by each day. There aren't many places like that in South Jersey. Our roads are mostly filled with people going to work, and/or people making short trips to the Shore and the like.

If you do pass by a Buc-ee's you should stop and check it out. It's certainly a piece of modern Americana.