Buc-ee’s to break ground for historic Brunswick location

Originally approved in the Fall of 2022 by the Golden Isles Development Authority (GIDA), the construction of a Buc-ee’s travel center on Exit 42 off Interstate 95 in Brunswick is set to begin on Monday, Jan. 29. Both leaders in the community and company employees will attend a 10am ceremony to celebrate the groundbreaking.

Stan Beard, Director of Real Estate for Buc-ee’s, confirmed the long-awaited groundbreaking plans in a Jan. 15 press release.

“This is an exciting intersection for us,” he said. “This is a good pick for us. The city’s been good; the county’s been good.”


It will be the third Buc-ee's in Georgia, and it's costing $30 million to build. The expectation is for the store to wind up hiring roughly 200 employees. It's the biggest Buc-ee's in the state, surpassing the size of stores located in Fort Valley and Adairsville.

With an address at 7156 Hwy 99, Buc-ee’s Brunswick will measure 74,000 square feet and will include 120 fueling stations.

Attendees of the Brunswick groundbreaking ceremony will include Thomas "Wayne" Neal, Chairman, Glynn County Board of Commissioners; Buddy Carter, US Representative; Ann R. Purcell, GDOT Board Vice Chair; and Ryan Moore, President of GIDA.

Much of the prep necessary to begin building the massive travel stop location was done in 2022, when Moore and the development authority approved $3 million in spending for road work, traffic lights and other infrastructure at the intersection of I-95 and Hwy 99.

"Buc-ee's won't officially say they are committed to a location until they break  ground. So, there's always the chance that something occurs out of your control, and we didn't expect anything to happen, but we just couldn't officially say they were coming until now," said Ryan Moore, the president and CEO of Golden Isles Development Authority during a recent phone call with "Connect Savannah."

"It's nice to be able to say that, because most everybody in the community is really excited about them being here," he said.

Brunswick citizens won't be paying for any of the construction beyond the road work approved in 2022.

"The contribution from the community level came through the Glenn County Board of Commissioners, who I thank for their support of the project. It was only that $3 million," Moore said.

“Brunswick is a natural stop between our Florida and South Carolina locations,” Beard said in the press release. “It’s on a stretch of interstate near the beautiful Georgia coastline so we are excited to finally get started here.”

Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s operates 47 stores and 34 of those are in Texas, where the company was born and where headquarters still reside.

A point of pride for every location, Buc-ee's is “home to the world’s cleanest bathrooms, freshest food and friendliest beaver.” The 24/7 travel stop is projected to generate $30 million in sales each year at the Brunswick location. While that number is a projection from 2022, it does not include the sales of gasoline.

The company is offering a promising pay package for employees of the store. In the release, Buc-ee's says employees in Brunswick can expect “starting pay well above minimum wage, full benefits, a six percent matching 401K, and three weeks of paid vacation time."

For more information on the company, visit www.buc-ees.com. Read the press release here.