Dive Brief:
- Sheetz plans to break ground on its first Detroit-area c-store on Thursday, the company confirmed via email.
- The convenience retailer will officially begin work in Michigan with its site at 33380 Wick Road in Romulus, about 23 miles southwest of Detroit. The site is expected to open later this year.
- Michigan is the latest state Sheetz is targeting as it continues its push toward the 1,000-store milestone.
Dive Insight:
The Romulus site will be the first of around 60 locations Sheetz is planning to build in Michigan over the next five to six years. It already has more than 700 stores across six states, and plans to open its first sites in the Asheville area of North Carolina this year, as well.
Reaching the 1,000 store mark would put Sheetz in rarefied company. Last year, Wawa and QuikTrip became just the seventh and eighth c-stores to surpass the 1,000-store mark.
“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, company president and CEO, in September when the company celebrated its 700th store.
Sheetz is joining several other c-store companies in looking to new states to realize large-scale growth plans. For example, Wawa has begun work on a massive seven-state expansion plan as it strives for 1,800 locations.
Trevis Sheetz, president and CEO, will be joined by Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight and representatives from Special Olympics Michigan and Forgotten Harvest at the groundbreaking ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
