INDIANA, Pa. -- Sheetz opened its first fuel-free Sheetz Café on the campus of West Virginia University in March 2015 with the promise that it would be a place to experiment with a different kind of convenience store, one committed to foodservice without the yoke of a fuel island out front.
Just over a year later, Sheetz Inc. will expand on the concept with a second Sheetz Café sight on a raze-and-rebuild site in Indiana, Pa. This time the concept promises to open the door to beer sales for the chain, something not allowed in most c-stores in the state of Pennsylvania.
To build what Sheetz director of real estate Dave Hazelet called the “experimental” site, the convenience-store retailer will remove the entire existing building, gas pumps and underground pipes and tanks, according to a report in the Indiana Gazette.
And rather than offer fuel sales or grocery items such as milk and bread, it will sell six-packs of beer in addition to the usual snack foods and made-to-order items available in other Sheetz c-stores.
About 36 people will be able to dine inside the store and another 36 outside, according to the newspaper report.
According to Pennsylvania state law, a single store cannot sell both gasoline and beer without violating the liquor code. By doing away with the fuel offer and adding more food, the new Sheetz store should operate under the definition of a restaurant.
The bigger building—more than twice the size of the existing store—will make use of space behind the current one and the area where the fuel pumps used to sit. The old building was about 2,100 square feet and the new one will be 4,486 square feet, the newspaper reported.
The store is expected to open before fall classes begin Aug. 7 at nearby Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
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