Inside the world’s largest convenience store coming to East Tennessee
Buc-ee’s is opening a store in Crossville and Sevier County
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Two Buc-ee’s stores are set to open in East Tennessee.
The Buc-ee’s franchise prides itself on having clean bathrooms, fresh food and the “world’s friendliest beaver,” the company’s mascot. WVLT Morning Anchors Casey Wheeless and Harry Sullivan drove to Calhoun, Georgia to tour the company’s newest location.
“Buc-ee’s is more of an experience. It’s more than just gas and snacks,” said Wes Harness, assistant general manager at the Buc-ee’s location in Calhoun, Georgia. “So you know, we have a wide range of gifts that you can get... anything you can imagine with a picture of a beaver on it.”
The location in Georgia has 120 gas pumps that are “full all the time” according to Harness. Both the Crossville and Sevier County locations will have more than 100 pumps. “It’s almost hard to make people mad at Buc-ee’s because it’s just such an experience, right? It’s just a cool place to be. We like to think we offer stuff at a good value too, so we keep them coming back.”
The company broke ground in June on the Crossville location on Genesis Road. It’s going to be 53,000 square feet, small big but the Sevierville store is going to be 75,000 square feet. It’s almost a third larger,” said Harness.
The Sevier County store is going in right at the 407 Exit off I-40. It’s part of the 407: Gateway to Adventure, a 200-acre development that will include shops and restaurants, developed by Kituwah and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
These two new stores are part of Buc-ee’s multi-state expansion across the South, joining two locations in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Buc-ee’s broke ground on its first Kentucky location in April.
Buc-ee’s continues to operate 38 locations in Texas, where it was founded almost four decades ago.
The stores will bring hundreds of new, permanent, full-time jobs to the area with starting pay beginning above minimum wage, full benefits, 401k and three weeks of vacation. “We’re just looking for that personality. I mean, you can train skills with anybody, but we’re just looking for people that have that attitude and the personality that we’re looking for, and it’s not been too hard to find,” said Harness.
Copyright 2021 WVLT. All rights reserved.