Wawa or Sheetz: Which Are You?

My love for Wawa is well documented within these pages, not to mention the pages of THG #11 which features WP Tandy's paean to the convenience store to end all convenience stores.

But it's not like The Wa is the only quick fix, one-stop shop for gas and grub. For those of us in the mid-Atlantic region Sheetz is also an option though I've never stopped at one for anything more than a quick gas up and maybe a restroom visit.

Frankly, while Wawa projects a more laid-back, easy-going experience the red and neon decorating scheme at Sheetz seems far more in your face. In other words, not the amped-up experience I need when stopping to stretch my legs during a drive. Even the Sheetz web site features an idling monster truck emblazoned with the store's logo.

Seems I'll have to be making an exploratory Sheetz trip, though. I was just checking out their web site and found out that they have an exclusive Reese's Peanut Butter Cup-flavored f'REAL milkshake! Another tip of the cap to Sheetz for their efforts to change Pennsylvania's outdated liquor laws and make it okay to purchase alcoholic beverages in the Keystone State's convenience and grocery stores. While their motives certainly aren't entirely altruistic (imagine how much liquor sales would put in the coffers of the Sheetz – and Wawa – locations in that state), I'm all for changes to such long-standing laws.

Washington Post reporter Hank Stuever digs deeper into the Wawa vs. Sheetz debate in this article from today's edition.

Thanks to THG contributor Debbie Stultz for the tip.