MANSFIELD, Ohio — Buc-ee's moved another step deeper into Ohio on June 2, when Mansfield City Council unanimously approved a development plan for a new travel center near the Interstate 71 and Route 39 interchange. The project, planned for nearly 38 acres in Richland County, would give the chain its second Ohio location and place a major retail stop roughly halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.
The company said the new site is expected to serve 100,000 customers a week and employ 175 to 225 people. It also pledged to cover the $15 million infrastructure cost tied to the development, a spending commitment that helped carry the plan through council and set up a first-quarter 2028 groundbreaking, if the schedule holds.
That approval matters because Buc-ee's has already opened in Ohio. Its first store in the state began serving customers in Huber Heights in April 2026, a 74,000-square-foot travel center with 100 fueling positions and 24 EV charging stations. Mansfield is now one of more than a dozen locations the company says it is looking to open over the next few years, part of a chain that now has more than 50 stores across a dozen states.
The project also fits into a broader local financing arrangement. Greg Daniels, speaking to council, said the company was advancing the infrastructure money itself and would be repaid later through a sales tax charge, describing the deal as a collaborative public-private partnership. Angela Janik told council the chain is not a truck stop but a family-centered travel center, underscoring the way Buc-ee's has tried to sell itself as an all-purpose destination rather than a fuel stop.
Still, the path from approval to opening is long. Buc-ee's says the Mansfield site is part of its expansion in Ohio and other states, but it has also publicly dismissed rumors of a store in Plainfield Township, Pennsylvania. For now, the cleaner story is in Richland County: a second Ohio Buc-ee's is on the board, the money has been committed and the next real milestone is a groundbreaking that is not expected until 2028 at the earliest.
