Johnstown Buc-ee’s to join world’s largest convenience stores

JOHNSTOWN — The planned new Buc-ee’s location along Interstate 25 and Weld County Road 48 could be among the largest in the franchise, and in the world. Preliminary documents for the convenience store and gas station, set to open in 2024, list plans for 120 fuel pumps, 596 parking spaces and a 74,000-square-foot building. 

The record-holder for the world’s largest convenience store is the Buc-ee’s location in New Braunfels, Texas, at 66,335 square feet. A new location in Sevierville, Tennessee, is set to open in 2023 with a 74,000 square-foot store, breaking the record by around 8,000 square feet. 

The Johnstown location is set to be similarly super-sized, sitting on nearly 30 acres at the southwest corner of I-25 and Colorado Highway 60, at exit 252. The plans include a covered fueling area with 116 gasoline pumps and four diesel fueling stations.

The upcoming Buc-ee’s in Johnstown is one of several planned locations springing up across the nation. The store would be the Pearland, Texas-based chain’s first entry into Colorado, and the first location outside of the south. 

The majority of planned Buc-ee’s locations feature buildings of around 50,000 square feet, with the Johnstown and Sevierville locations being the largest of the new crop. Average convenience stores are typically around 2,500 square feet.

As BizWest first reported, Buc-ee’s locations use their Texas-sized stores to smoke barbecue in-house, craft homemade fudge and sell everything from road-trip snacks to home goods. The chain’s famous bathrooms were designed by Buc-ee’s LLC founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, and feature floor-to-ceiling walls around each stall and bright lights.

Johnstown’s location is set to include a special parking area for bicycles and a future electric-vehicle parking area. The plan also lists more Americans with Disabilities Act parking stalls than required by law, with 19. Though detailed traffic studies have not been made available, the site plan includes a roundabout and diverging diamond interchange that have drawn criticism from other area businesses.

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