Published: June 12, 2009 11:10 pm      

Sheetz eyeing future store in Beckley market

With its first south-central West Virginia store opening Friday in Barboursville, Sheetz is inching closer to the Beckley market, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

A deli, cafe and gas station all rolled up in one, Sheetz got its beginnings in 1952 when Bob Sheetz purchased his father’s dairy stores. At that time, it was known as the “dairy-deli” store. In the 1970s, Sheetz started selling gas. Now, the national chain has 352 stores nationwide with 24 stores in West Virginia alone, selling everything from salads and chicken fingers to espressos and coffee.

Public relations manager Monica Jones says the success in northern West Virginia has made the company want to scout out the southern region. Sheetz plans to open stores in Milton, west Huntington and Hurricane before the end of the year. As for Beckley, Jones says it is in the works, but not for a while.

“Everything is pretty much set in stone for the next fiscal year, so we will probably not do it this year,” she said. “What will probably happen is Beckley will see one in the year 2010.”

Jones says Sheetz looks for areas that are high-traffic, on-the-go and preferably ones that have colleges or universities nearby.

“The Beckley market seems to have everything going for it in these areas,” she said. “It has the high-traffic commuter route and a couple of universities nearby. Plus, with the success it’s seen in northern West Virginia, I think it would do well in the southern area as well.”

Jones says that while she is looking forward to seeing the company expand to the southern part of the state, other people are expressing their excitement as well.

“I’ve had people who have seen Sheetz in the northern region who are really excited about the thought of moving down to their area,” she said. “We’re really happy this process has gone well and we look forward to continuing our growth.”