A Sheetz location is closing next month in State College. Here’s what we know
The State College area will soon have one fewer Sheetz location.
The downtown Sheetz, at 139 S. Pugh St., is permanently closing by the end of July, according to the company. No specific reason was offered.
“Sheetz has made the difficult decision to permanently close its store located along Pugh Street, in State College, Pennsylvania,” public relations manager Nick Ruffner said Tuesday in a written statement. “It is expected that this store will close in late July. However, all employees at this store location have been offered employment at other nearby Sheetz locations.
“We thank our customers for their years of support and look forward to serving them at our other locations in the State College area.”
The Sheetz in downtown State College opened in 2015, initially with a five-year lease and an option to continue operating. It’s unknown what the current deal looked like.
The location was unique, in that it was just Sheetz’s second-ever offering that had no gas pumps but boasted a beer cave. At the time, Sheetz officials felt the location would be a good fit for Penn State students and locals walking past — and appeared to reflect a new company strategy that attempted to better cater to a college crowd.
The first Sheetz location with a beer cave and no gas pumps opened months before the State College location in Morgantown, West Virginia, near West Virginia University. At the time, the company’s director of special projects in Emily Sheetz said, “This is the next generation of Sheetz.”
Once the location closes, the nearest Sheetz to downtown State College will be a little more than 1.5 miles away at 120 South Ridge Plaza. A half-dozen locations, all traditional stores with gas pumps, remain open within five miles of the downtown.
