Dive Brief:
- Sheetz held a grand opening for its 700th store on Tuesday in the Columbus, Ohio, area, according to a Thursday press release.
- A company spokesperson said in an email that the company will continue to expand in Ohio and into Michigan, while President and CEO Travis Sheetz noted that the c-store retailer aims to eventually open more than 1,000 locations.
- Sheetz, the 10th-largest c-store chain in the U.S. by number of locations, according to NACS, is one of only two companies in the top 10 that operate less than 1,000 stores. Wawa and QuikTrip, in seventh and eighth, respectively, both reached that milestone earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
Sheetz has plans for new stores in multiple states, including its first Michigan locations, expected in 2025 in the Detroit area. It also intends to grow in several parts of Ohio, including its first stores in Toledo and additional locations in the Columbus and Dayton markets, the Sheetz spokesperson said in an email.
To support these growth plans, Sheetz is also building a new distribution center in Findlay, Ohio. The location is expected to create 700 jobs in the next five years and should open in 2026.
“Driven by a mission to constantly reinvent ourselves and put the Sheetz as we know it today out of business, I couldn’t be more excited about the future and our path to 1,000 stores,” said Travis Sheetz, president and CEO of Sheetz.
He did not provide a timeline for when Sheetz plans to hit the 1,000-store mark.
Sheetz donated a tractor trailer worth of food to mark the grand opening of its 700th store. It also held giveaways at the event for a variety of prizes.
In addition to growing its footprint, Sheetz has also been developing other parts of its business, including reaching the milestone of providing 2 million EV charges and expanding its foodservice offering with a line of new gourmet doughnuts.
Altoona, Pennsylvania-based Sheetz owns and operates 700 stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, and employs more than 25,000 people. The 70-year-old company’s locations are all open all day, every day.
