It's been a year since Buc-ees opened up in this small town; many residents consider the mega gas station a positive

Smiths Grove is Buc-ees' second location in Kentucky.
(Photo by Grace McDowell, BG Daily News)

A year after Buc-ees opened in the small town of Smiths Grove, Kentucky, many residents, including some who were initially wary of the sprawling development, shared positive views on the changes the mega gas station has brought to the area. Jack Dobbs of the Bowling Green Daily News reports, "Now, though, many are receptive to the store. . . . But some still have reservations."

Traffic dust-ups and crime were among community concerns voiced before Buc-ees opened, but pre-opening warnings turned out to be more dire than reality. Jason Franks, the chief of the Smiths Grove Police Department, told Dobbs, "With any new business, especially retail business, we’ve had more theft complaints, shoplifting calls, parking lot accidents, things of that nature, especially with that volume of vehicles coming in and out." Dobbs adds, "In all, though, Franks views the store as having been a boon for Smiths Grove."

Shelvie Payne, who has a 20-minute daily work commute to Smiths Grove, initially thought Buc-ees traffic would increase her travel time. Dobbs reports, "Payne takes the interstate every day to get to work, and said traffic conditions have improved in the area from what she has seen."

Payne added that she thought Buc-ees visitors helped her workplace attract more customers. She told Dobbs, "It’s brought in a lot more folks here on this exit that normally would have probably bypassed us."

Not everyone in town is sold on Buc-ees. "K.O. and Waz Blankenship run Psycho Granny’s Quilt Shop in Smiths Grove," Dobbs writes. "When asked what they thought the impact of Buc-ee’s had been, K.O. said 'negative, negative.'" She told Dobbs, “Business is dead, nobody’s walking (through town), we can’t talk them into coming in."