Texas-based retail store, Buc-ee’s, breaks ground on new Smiths Grove location

SMITH’S GROVE, Ky. (WBKO) - City and state leaders took the next step in opening the Buc-ees location in Smiths Grove.

Construction on the new retail store and gas station formally began on Monday with the groundbreaking at the location off of Exit 38 on Interstate 65.

“[For] those travelers that are traveling down Interstate 65, there’s a lot of opportunities to have their needs serviced... but our job is for it to happen right here in this community,” CEO of Buc-ees, Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin, said. “If we do, then the entire community prospers”.

The Smiths Grove location will feature a total of 54,000 square feet, with 116 fueling stations, and 565 parking spaces on a 31-acre property. It could also bring nearly 200 jobs to the city.

While the jobs for the Smiths Grove location have not been posted yet, the company does list some of the opportunities they have for employees online. Those include 40-plus hour work weeks, three weeks of paid time off, and a 100% match of up to six percent of 401ks.

The average pay is around $16 an hour for most positions.

“It’s gonna be a great thing for our community because of the growth of this type of business with employees they have,” said Smith’s Grove Mayor, David Stiffey. “We’re very thankful for the benefits that they will get to the occupation, tax revenues that they will generate.

While addressing the audience, Aplin spoke about the different opportunities that those driving on the interstate have and why it is a great place for another Buc-ees location.

“I can commit to you that we will have really good full-time high-paying jobs”, he said, “Although it’s small, there’s a great population base here for hiring, and then we’re relatively close to the population base in Bowling Green”.

Aplin also spoke about the former owners of the property.

“This was their family farm,” he said, “There’s a lot of emotion with that, but they were as happy and as thankful and as excited about the opportunities here on their piece of property”.

The Smiths Grove location will be up and running in about a year.

This is the second location to come to Kentucky, with the first opening in Richmond in April 2022.

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