You could fit Nashville’s first Wawa inside Murfreesboro’s new Buc-ee’s more than 12 times.
And the two open just three days apart.
Buc-ee’s opens its doors at 6 a.m. on Monday, November 16, at Interstate 24 and Joe B. Jackson Parkway in Murfreesboro, according to the Daily News Journal. Wawa follows on Thursday, November 19, at 8033 Highway 100 in Bellevue, its first store inside Nashville, The Tennessean reports.
The timing is a coincidence. The contrast is not. One chain is betting on a single giant destination with 120 fueling positions. The other is building small stores on the roads you already drive, and it wants more than 50 of them in Tennessee.
Here’s what each opening really means, how to handle opening day, and which stop fits the trip you’re actually making.
One Giant Store vs. Fifty Small Ones
The numbers show two companies playing completely different games.
Buc-ee’s Murfreesboro is planned as a 74,000-square-foot travel center with 120 fueling positions. Wawa’s Bellevue store was permitted as a 5,915-square-foot building with 16 fuel pumps. That makes one Buc-ee’s about 12 times the building and more than 7 times the pumps.
Jobs follow the same pattern. Buc-ee’s says this one store will bring at least 250 full-time jobs. Wawa says its plan for more than 50 Tennessee stores over the next decade will create more than 1,750 jobs, The Tennessean reported. That works out to about 35 jobs per Wawa, so one Buc-ee’s carries roughly the payroll of seven Wawas.
Our read: Buc-ee’s is the stop you plan a drive around. Wawa wants to be the one you pass on the way to work. Murfreesboro will soon have both, since Wawa already runs a store on Veterans Parkway and has another Murfreesboro location planned.
For anyone making the I-24 run toward Chattanooga, like our family did for our Lookout Mountain Incline Railway day trip, the Joe B. Jackson exit is about to become the obvious place to fuel up on the way out.
| Buc-ee’s Murfreesboro | Wawa Bellevue | |
|---|---|---|
| Opens | Mon., Nov. 16, 6 a.m. | Thu., Nov. 19 |
| Location | I-24 at Joe B. Jackson Parkway | 8033 Highway 100, Nashville |
| Building | About 74,000 sq. ft. | About 5,915 sq. ft. |
| Fuel | 120 fueling positions | 16 pumps |
| Hours | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Order ahead | No | Yes, in the Wawa app |
| Known for | Brisket, breakfast tacos, Beaver Nuggets, fudge | Hoagies, coffee, Sizzli breakfast sandwiches |
| Other Tennessee stores | Crossville, Kodak | Clarksville, Dickson, Lebanon, Manchester, Murfreesboro |
Opening Day at Buc-ee’s Starts in the Dark
The doors open at 6 a.m. on November 16, and customers can start lining up at midnight. The ribbon-cutting comes six hours after the doors open, at noon, company media manager Crissy Gonzales told the Daily News Journal.
So pick your goal. If you want the ceremony, come at lunch. If you want to be among the first inside, plan on a cold November night in a parking lot.
That early crowd will be driving at the worst time of year for deer. Rutherford County recorded 349 deer crashes in 2023, the fourth-most in Tennessee, and November is the statewide peak, as we found when we mapped the Tennessee counties with the most deer collisions. Watch the shoulders of Joe B. Jackson Parkway on the way in.
The interchange has changed, too. New traffic signals now control both I-24 ramps and the Elam Road and Butler Drive intersection on Joe B. Jackson, WKRN reported. If you haven’t used this exit since last winter, expect a new pattern.
Murfreesboro is counting on big numbers. Council member Jami Averwater estimated the store could draw more than 5 million visitors a year. With the average Buc-ee’s shopper spending about $100, she projected roughly $3.5 million a year in sales tax for the city and another $3.5 million for Rutherford County, WATE reported.
The jobs are a draw on their own. Listings earlier this year advertised $25 to $33 an hour, and Buc-ee’s groundbreaking announcement promised full benefits, a 6% 401(k) match and three weeks of paid vacation.
It has been a long wait. Plans first surfaced in May 2021, and city, county and state leaders broke ground with Gov. Bill Lee in October 2025. The new store joins Buc-ee’s Tennessee locations in Crossville and Sevierville.
Bellevue Waited More Than Three Years for This Wawa
Nashville’s first Wawa has been a neighborhood conversation since April 2023. That’s when Metro Councilmember Dave Rosenberg shared the Highway 100 proposal on Facebook and asked for feedback.
Nearly 200 people weighed in within four days, and the response caught Rosenberg off guard, The Tennessean reported. A good number of them already knew the chain firsthand and were thrilled to see it coming.
Not everyone cheered. Some neighbors worried about piling more traffic onto Highway 100, a road Rosenberg noted was supposed to be widened decades ago. Others saw the logic right away: the site shares a corridor with the Loveless Cafe and the northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway, which pull in visitors from all over, WKRN reported.
That location is the real bonus for anyone visiting. A hoagie and a coffee make an easy start before a drive down the Trace. If you’d rather sit down for biscuits, the Loveless is a short drive away and made our list of Tennessee’s most unique dining destinations.
Bellevue’s store is Wawa’s sixth in Tennessee, not its first. The chain opened in Clarksville on June 18 and has opened four more since. If you want to try Wawa before November 19, these are open now:
- Clarksville: 1290 Parkway Place
- Dickson: 2424 Tennessee 46 South
- Lebanon: 1000 Murfreesboro Road
- Manchester: 24 Campground Road
- Murfreesboro: 5208 Veterans Parkway
Five stores in roughly four months is a fast pace, and the company says it plans to invest about $375 million in Tennessee over the next decade.
Order Ahead at Wawa. Just Show Up at Buc-ee’s.
The biggest practical difference isn’t the food. It’s how you get it.
Wawa lets you build an order in its official app, then pick it up inside, at the curb or by delivery. Choose your store first, since not every service runs at every location.
Buc-ee’s has no advance ordering at all, according to its official FAQ. The company says it can handle large groups, but everyone orders on site.
Wawa is known for made-to-order hoagies, coffee and Sizzli breakfast sandwiches. Its menu also runs to specialty drinks, burgers, soups and sides, according to the company’s Middle Tennessee announcement. It also offers free tire air and ATMs with no operator surcharge, though your bank may still charge its own fee.
Buc-ee’s built its name on brisket sandwiches, breakfast tacos, jerky, fudge and Beaver Nuggets, as The Tennessean’s side-by-side comparison notes. It adds something Wawa doesn’t try to do: a full shopping trip, with clothing, gifts and souvenirs.
Both stores stay open 24 hours, but breakfast doesn’t. Buc-ee’s serves breakfast from 4 to 10:30 a.m., then switches over to lunch by 11:30 a.m., its FAQ says. Hot food, cold sandwiches, jerky and fudge are available around the clock.
That timing matters on opening day. The 6 a.m. crowd lands right in the breakfast window. The noon ribbon-cutting crowd will have missed the last breakfast taco by about 90 minutes.
Buc-ee’s and Wawa Visitor Guide
Buc-ee’s Murfreesboro:
- Where: I-24 at the Joe B. Jackson Parkway exit, on Murfreesboro’s southeast side.
- Opening: 6 a.m. Monday, November 16. The line can start at midnight, and the ribbon-cutting is at noon.
- Breakfast: 4 to 10:30 a.m. daily.
- Tip: Expect new traffic signals at the I-24 ramps, and watch for deer if you’re driving in before sunrise.
Wawa Bellevue:
- Where: 8033 Highway 100, Nashville, near Temple Road.
- Opening: Thursday, November 19.
- Order ahead: Select the Bellevue store in the Wawa app once it opens and check which pickup options it offers.
- Nearby: The Loveless Cafe and the northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Can’t wait? Wawa is already open at 5208 Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro and in Clarksville, Dickson, Lebanon and Manchester.
New to Tennessee road trips? Read what Tennessee locals want first-time visitors to know before you hit the interstate.
Sources: Daily News Journal, The Tennessean, WKRN, WATE, the City of Murfreesboro, Buc-ee’s and Wawa.
Wow that is great for Murfreesboro.
Job and tax money.
Buc—ee’s is also opening one in Brownsville, TN soon.
I love that place!!!