C-store foodservice trailblazer Sheetz shuts down restaurant-like venue near college

A leader of convenience stores’ charge into the fast-food market was sharply reminded last month that regular and high octane are still key draws for the consumers it’s been trying to lure with sandwiches and snacks.

A Sheetz c-store that lacked gasoline pumps was shuttered July 31 after what amounted to a seven-year test of the cafe-like unit’s foodservice pull. Located near Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pa., the branch was one of the chain's several concept stores developed near college campuses to gauge the drawing power of its restaurant-like offerings.

Sheetz is widely regarded as a trailblazer in broadening and improving the array of ready-to-eat products that consumers can buy from c-stores. The retailing sector has been striving to capture more foodservice revenues because the margins are typically far better than what’s cleared on fuel sales.

Sheetz did not divulge the reason for the closing. “We thank our customers for their years of support and look forward to serving them at our other locations in the Indiana area,” a Sheetz spokesperson said in a statement provided to FoodService Director sister publication CSP, which covers convenience retailing.

Those Sheetz branches presumably all have gas pumps.

The Indiana unit had enough fans to spark a Change.org petition to keep the store open. The store had opened in the summer of 2016.

Sheetz debuted a foodservice-centric, fuel-free alternative format in March 2015 in Morgantown, W. Va., near West Virginia University. Other cafe-style stores were subsequently opened in State College, Pa., near Pennsylvania State University; and Charlottesville, Va., near the University of Virginia. 

Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz operates 670 convenience stores across its six-state footprint of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.

Additional reporting for this story was provided by Steve Holtz and Greg Lindenberg of CSP.