Buc-ee’s will open a $50 million travel center in Ruston, the Texas chain’s first location in Louisiana.

A minimum of 200 people will work at the travel center off Interstate 20. The 53,000-square-foot building will have 120 gas pumps.

Construction is set to begin later this year and the center will open by 2025.

“The economic impact of this development is substantial and something the community will continue to benefit from for years to come,” Jade West, economic development director for the city of Ruston, said in a statement released Monday evening.

At one time, Buc-ee’s was considering a south Louisiana location. In March 2016, it was reported the company would open its first Louisiana store in Baton Rouge, in the Greens at Millerville development off Interstate 12.

Buc-ee’s is known for its oversized stores with pristine bathrooms that carry items such as produce, barbecue cooked in-house and fresh baked goods, along with the snacks, soft drinks and beer found in a typical convenience store.

While the chain had long been a Texas-only business, in recent years, Buc-ee’s has started to expand across the Southeast. The business is following its model of building travel centers between major driving markets. Stores are now open in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. In early 2022, the chain closed on a deal to buy a site off Interstate 10 in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

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