New from the ground up, the Sheetz convenience store reopens at RDU airport
Seven months after the Sheetz convenience store at Raleigh-Durham International Airport closed and was demolished, its replacement is set to open Friday morning.
The Sheetz on Aviation Parkway just off Interstate 40 was a popular stop for people looking to fuel up or grab a quick meal or cheap hot dog on their way to or from the airport.
The company decided to replace the 16-year-old building with a reconfigured one that’s a third larger. Everything about the place is new, including the fuel tanks in the ground.
The new Sheetz includes self-service kiosks and additional seating both inside and out. Instead of a car wash there’s now a drive-thru window. And there are 20 gas pumps on one side of the building and a place for 6 Tesla electric vehicle chargers, coming in the near future, on the other.
It’s set to open at 9 a.m. Dec. 17.
The Sheetz has gotten some competition since it closed last April. The RDU Galleria, a combination food court, convenience store, bar and gas station, opened just down the road this summer.
Sheetz rents the lot at the corner of Aviation Parkway and National Guard Drive from RDU. The airport made room for several retail businesses at the intersection, in something it calls Aviation Station, but so far only Sheetz has chosen to build. The company has a new 15-year lease, with options to renew for up to 10 years more.
The Sheetz was a handy place for people to hang out while waiting to pick someone up from an incoming flight, says Michael Landguth, RDU’s president and CEO. Since it closed, Landguth said, he’s noticed more people idling in no-parking zones around the airport, rather than waiting in the cellphone lot.
He hopes some of those people find their way back to the Sheetz.
