Here, city leaders from Florence share their thoughts on bringing Buc-ee’s to their neighborhood, as well as the challenges and impacts the megastore has brought. The Buc-ee’s store in Florence, South Carolina, is currently the closest to our neighborhood. “I’m going in soon, I’ve heard so much about it, I want to see what it’s like,” says Lucy Franks of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “I’m right by the bakery because I have to get one more lemon bar before I leave,” says Erin Berek of Delaware. “My favorite thing about Buc-ee’s is the whole store. There’s so much cool stuff, so much fun stuff,” one kid said. Florence, South Carolina leaders are amazed by the fanfare around the gas station. “It’s really become a tourist destination here,” says Florence Mayor Theresa Myers Irvin. “People are literally coming to Buc-ee’s as a tourist destination.” “It’s exceeded Buc-ee’s and the community’s expectations,” said Michael Miller, president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. According to the city’s economic development office, Buc-ee’s visitors bring in $4.6 million in annual revenue to the city. Economists estimate that the Disney World gas station brings in more than $1 million in local sales tax revenue, and $1 million a day on major high traffic days alone. “We didn’t have any opposition to this location, especially because this was a location that we were already working with the county to prepare for,” Myers Irvin said. “We knew industry was going to be here. We knew big companies and things like that were going to come.” Myers Irvin says attracting Buc-ee’s to the city required a lot of up-front planning and feedback. As you might imagine, traffic was a major concern during the planning stages. “Our concern and what we had to address was we needed to make sure that traffic flow from that location would flow into the existing traffic without creating congestion or putting a strain on that location,” Myers Irvin said. “So as you’re coming out of there, you’ll notice that there’s lanes, there’s circles and there’s roundabouts. This not only smooths traffic, but it slows people down so they’re not running into each other.” As of now, there’s no set opening date for the Mebane store. The store is under construction on Trollingwood-Horfield Road near the Interstate 40/85 interchange. We’ll continue to follow the store’s progress and bring you the latest updates on-air and in the WXII 12 News app.
Florence city leaders share their thoughts on attracting Buc-ee’s to their neighborhood and the challenges and impacts the megastore has brought.
For now, the Buc-ee’s location in Florence, South Carolina is the closest one to us.
“I’m going in now and I’m really excited to see what it’s like because I’ve heard so much about it,” said Lucy Franks, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“I have to get another lemon bar before I go home, so I’m right by the bakery,” said Erin Berek, from Delaware.
“What I like most about Buc-ee’s is the whole store because there’s so many cool things and so many cool things that are so much fun,” one child said.
The fanfare blaring from gas stations surprised leaders in Florence, South Carolina.
“It’s really become a tourist destination,” Florence Mayor Theresa Myers Irvin said. “People are literally coming to Buckeyes as a tourist destination.”
“This really exceeds the expectations of Buckeyes and the community,” said Michael Miller, president of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
According to the city’s economic development office, Buc-ee’s visitors bring in $4.6 million a year into the city.
Economists say the Disney World gas station could bring in more than $1 million in local sales tax revenue, or $1 million per day on a high-traffic day.
“There was no public opposition to this location, especially since it was a location that we had already worked with the county to prepare,” Myers-Irvin said. “We knew that industry was going to be coming to this location. We knew that big companies and others were going to be coming.”
Myers Irvin says opening a Buc-ee’s in her town took a lot of upfront planning and feedback, and as you might imagine, traffic was a major concern during the planning stages.
“Our concern and what we had to address was making sure that traffic flow from that location would flow into existing traffic without congestion or putting a strain on that location,” Myers-Irvin said. “So as you’re coming out of there, you’ll notice that there are lanes, there’s a loop and there’s a roundabout. This also helps smooth out traffic and it slows people down so they don’t get hit.”
As of now, there is no set opening date for the Mebane store, which is under construction on Trollingwood-Horfield Road near the Interstate 40/85 interchange. We continue to follow the store’s progress and will provide updates here on-air and in the WXII 12 News app.
