The convenience store and gas station chain Buc-ee’s may be coming to Wisconsin as soon as 2027. But some residents of the planned Oak Creek location are raising concerns about the project, and in recent months have filed a lawsuit against the city.
Originally based in Texas, Buc-ee’s was founded in 1982 and has aggressively expanded outside the state in recent years. Its proposed Oak Creek location would be the first in Wisconsin, after a planned move to DeForest has been delayed.
But what is Buc-ee’s and why are some residents concerned? Lake Effect’s Sam Woods spoke with Charles Usher, who wrote an overview of what you need to know about Buc-ee’s for June’s issue of Milwaukee Magazine. He also spoke with Mary Ellen Malcom and Bill Malcolm of Oak Creek Neighbors United, a neighborhood group opposing the development.
What is Buc-ee’s?
Usher says that to call Buc-ee’s a convenience store and gas station “vastly undersells it.” The largest location being about 75,000 square feet. For comparison, the largest Kwik Trip in Wisconsin is about 5 times smaller.
“It absolutely dwarfs every other convenience store you’ve been to,” Usher says. “It’s Jupiter compared to Mercury.”
Buc-ee’s locations often offer in-house barbecue bar and bakery, dozens of fuel pumps, branded snacks and merch featuring their mascot “Buc-ee the Beaver.”
“That goes a long way, because you can slap that on merch and people will want to buy it,” Usher says. “You don’t have kids clamoring for Kwik Trip merch.”
But Usher says that while Buc-ee’s will undoubtedly give Kwik Trip some competition on its home turf, their customer bases may be different enough for both to coexist. In part because of its size, Buc-ee’s is likely not going to be a quick-stop gas station.
“It’s not a place where you’re just going to pop in to get gas real quick,” Usher says. “It’s going to appeal a lot more to travelers traveling from Chicago to Door County, or from Milwaukee to Chicago.”
‘We’re not alone in this fight’: Oak Creek residents push back
Mary Ellen Malcom remembers hearing that Buc-ee’s was coming to town.
“I heard about Buc-ee’s and I thought, ‘Oh this is OK,’ but then when I started doing the research that’s when my concern came,” Malcolm says.
Soon after, Malcolm organized other concerned neighbors to form Oak Creek Neighbors United. The group opposes the Buc-ee’s development in Oak Creek, citing light and noise pollution, traffic, environmental concerns and cost to taxpayers to maintain infrastructure that Buc-ee’s will use but not pay for.
Malcolm says the group brought their concerns to the Oak Creek government, but felt they were ignored as the plans were approved. The group then sued the Oak Creek city government for allegedly rezoning the Buc-ee’s location illegally.
Bill Malcolm, Mary Ellen’s son and also a member of Oak Creek Neighbors United, says the lawsuit was a last resort.
“This definitely wasn’t our first move, we tried bringing our concerns before the [city] council, and they were largely disregarded,” Bill says. “We’re having a heck of a time trying to figure out why — why are they favoring this huge Texas gas company over its own residents?”
Bill Malcolm says that other areas across the country are resisting Buc-ee’s expansions. He cited the mayor of Palmer Lake, CO resigning amid controversy over a proposed Buc-ee’s site there, and Buc-ee’s pulling out of a proposed site in Orange County, NC after resident pushback.
“We’re not alone in this fight,” he says.
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