Sheetz

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Sign showing gas prices in front of the Sheetz store in Mount Jackson, Virginia, at the beginning of the Hurricane Katrina-related price spike.

Canopy over the gas pumps at the Sheetz store in Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

Sheetz, Inc. is a chain of gas stations/convenience stores owned by the Sheetz family. Stores are located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina.

1 History
2 Food
3 Facts
4 External links

[edit] History

Sheetz was founded in 1952, when Bob Sheetz opened Sheetz Dairy Store, in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Then, the company began to grow, and is growing by the day. In early 2004, Sheetz pioneered the industry with the world's first "Convenience Restaurant". It was announced in December of 2004 that they would also pioneer the new Sheetz Mastercard with RFID technology built into the card. Today, they are running with over 10,000 employees and 320 stores in operation.

[edit] Food

Sheetz started off with their signature "MTO" name, which stands for "Made To Order". In 1999, Sheetz was selling 10,000 MTO units a day. Sheetz now hires and trains baristas for their newest brand of "Sheetz Bros. Coffees", which are made to be high-grade coffee without the high cost to the consumer and the confusing technical jargon of usual high-class coffee shops. With the introduction of the "Convenience Restaurant" concept, they have expanded their menu vastly. Not only can one purchase the traditional made-to-order sandwiches and hot dogs, but now also pizza, panini grilled sandwiches, salads and chili round out the menu. Italian gelato iced cream can also be found at certain locations. Due to practicality and profitability issues, many of the new food items are being scaled back or eliminated.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Facts

Sheetz is the only convenience store to win the Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice.
In 2004, Sheetz opened their first convenience restaurant in Altoona.
About 20 new stores are added every year.
Ranked #87 on Forbes 500 Top Privately Held Companies in 2004.
More than 11,000 employees.
Ranked as the 5th best place to work in Pennsylvania.
Was the first convenience store to offer a touch-screen food ordering system.
All Sheetz stores are company-owned and operated. The company does not franchise, and has turned down several franchising requests.
Since the chain is well-regarded for its MTOs, employees go by restaurant health-code standards (males must be clean-shaven, employees can't have painted and long fingernails, etc.) over the less-restrictive standards of convenience stores.
Sheetz goes all the way in making food to order - if the way a customer wants an item prepared is not available on the touch-screen kiosk, a "special request" may be placed, allowing the customer to place the request directly with an MTO employee. The "special request" feature is currently being phased out as stores receive new computer systems.
Sheetz is regarded as the fastest-growing convenience store chain in the US.
Sheetz's primary competitors are Wawa Food Markets and 7-Eleven.
Notable markets that Sheetz serves, aside from their home Altoona market, includes the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area; Baltimore, Maryland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;Erie, Pennsylvania Frederick, Maryland; Roanoke, Virginia, Martinsville/Danville,VA; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Morgantown, West Virginia; Cumberland, Maryland; and Youngstown, Ohio. The chain is currently trying to expand into Raleigh, North Carolina and the St. Marys, Lancaster, Reading, Allentown-Bethlehem and Scranton-Wilkes Barre areas of Pennsylvania.
Ranked as the 6th best place to work in Ohio.
Sheetz announced on July 10, 2006 they will be Pennsylvania's first retail chain to offer E85 ethanol-based fuel alternative at the pump.