Mississippi’s first Buc-ee’s opens for business in Harrison County

HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - Mississippi’s first Buc-ee’s, located off I-10 at the Menge Avenue exit, is now open.

The doors to the Harrison County travel center opened at 6 a.m. on Monday, and eager beavers rushed in.

One of the first people in line was Angel Coleman from Saucier, who arrived at 10 p.m.

Others came from out of town and stayed in a hotel the night before.

The new 74,000-square-foot mega convenience store features 120 fuel pumps and 24 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

The Texas-based convenience store chain is known for its spotless restrooms, fresh brisket sandwiches, and endless aisles of Buc-ee’s merchandise with the friendly beaver logo.

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new location happened at 10 a.m. on Monday.

“We are super excited for our first store in Mississippi,” said Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin III, the CEO and co-founder of Buc-ee’s.

With thousands of people expected to flock to the new location, Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) says more law enforcement officers will be assigned along the I-10 corridor to monitor traffic and manage any accidents.

If traffic backs up on the interstate, MHP said people should not stop in the lane of travel, but instead pull over on the shoulder.

“Safety is paramount here. We just want people to be safe,” said MHP Master Sergeant Cal Robertson.

“That’s our goal at the end of the day. If we have no wrecks, no injuries, we have been successful.”

MHP said if the backup on I-10 gets bad, troopers could close the exit.

The new Buc-ee’s is located at 8245 Firetower Road in Harrison County.

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.