The town of Smiths Grove in Warren County will be home to the newest location of the convenience store chain Buc-ee’s. The Texas-based convenience store chain broke ground on a new location Monday and expects to be fully operational in 2024.
The new store will be located off Interstate-65 and is projected to be 53,471 square feet with 120 fuel pumps for travelers.
Buc-ee’s operates 46 stores across multiple states in the South and Midwest and has gained a fanatical following among some travelers for its expansive offerings of food and drinks, souvenirs, merchandise, and self-described “cleanest restrooms in America.”
Arch “Beaver” Aplin, the founder of Buc-ee’s, said the new store’s proximity to a major interstate was a benefit when selecting the location for the new store.
“It’s Interstate-65," Alpin said. "It’s a great interchange with really good visibility. You can see it going both ways, you can see the piece of property– that’s key for us.”
The city of Smiths Grove sits 15 miles north of Bowling Green and has a population of 764, according to the US Census Department. The new location is expected to create 200 jobs when it is completed.
According to Alpin, the community and people of Smith’s Grove will provide a fertile pool for hiring employees.
“Although it's small there's a great population base here for hiring and we’re relatively close to the population base in Bowling Green,” Alpin said. “That’s very helpful because we do need two hundred plus employees so we have to have the population base for the hiring, but we just think the people and community of Smith Grove couldn't be nicer.”
State and local policymakers attended the groundbreaking, including Rocky Adkins, the Senior Advisor to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear; Michael Meredith, Kentucky State Representative; David Stiffey, Mayor of Smiths Grove; and Warren County Attorney, Amy Milliken.
Kentucky State Representative Michael Meredith said the new location could boost revenue in the Warren County community.
“This investment is going to be extremely big here in Smiths Grove,” Meredith said. “It’s going to make this little corner of the interstate a destination. Hopefully, some of those people will not just come to this site but they’ll also get off and get to enjoy the rest of Smith’s Grove – a great historic community here in Warren County.”
This is the second Buc-ee's location in Kentucky. The first opened in Richmond in 2022.