First Buc-ee's in Mississippi opens to hundreds of loyal fans. See customer reactions
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. — Amanda Yarborough, a schoolteacher from Long Beach, was one of the first to arrive at Buc-ee's Travel Center on Monday, hours before the store's 6 a.m. grand opening.
She brought her Buc-ee's chair and sported a Buc-ee's T-shirt and cap.
"What was I thinking?" she said, holding up a purple stainless-steel mug. "I didn't bring a Buc-ee's cup."
Yarborough was one of nearly 1,000 Buc-ee's fans who turned up for the first Buc-ee's to open in Mississippi.
Like many other Buc-ee's fans, she likes everything.
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"It's like the Amazon of gas stations," she said.
At 6 a.m., hundreds stampeded the store's opening.
The Ward family, who came from Alabama, discovered Buc-ee's when the Leeds, Alabama, location opened.
Since 2023, the family has been to 45 stores before the Mississippi one and have the refrigerator magnets to prove it.
"We're celebrating our 50th anniversary in two weeks, so this is kind of our pre-anniversary celebration," Darlene Ward said, pointing to her husband, Charlie."
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The couple came from Boaz, Alabama, with their daughter Angela, who lives in Livingston, Alabama.
The family plans to visit the Robertsdale, Alabama, store on the way home.
"That will make 47 Buc-ee's," Angela Ward said.
Fifteen-year-old Scott Brown of Gautier dressed up in a Buc-ee's onesie to celebrate the store's opening.
"I thought it was kind of appropriate for today," he said.
Brown said he likes the food and drinks at Buc-ee's. One of the first things Brown and his friends did when the store opened was grab a few sandwiches. He couldnt wait. He scarfed one down before making it to the checkout counter.
Brown has been to several Buc-ee's in Texas and Florida. Now there's one closer to home.
"We go on cruises and we stop at every one of them," he said.
The Mississippi location off Interstate 10 in Pass Christian is roughly 74,000 square feet — 20,000 square feet bigger than the neighboring location in Alabama. And it has 120 gas pumps, all of which were full as the store opened on Monday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Buc-ee's opens in Pass Christian, Mississippi on June 9, 2025
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