Wawa Just Opened A New Location Deep In Sheetz Territory

There have been many great culinary rivalries throughout history, but none so heated as the battle of two gas station/convenience stores (not to be confused with bodegas), both based in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania: The great Wawa versus Sheetz feud. On Wednesday, April 16, Wawa made yet another move toward gas station dominance by opening a new store in Liberty Township, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati — for the uninitiated, this is deep in Sheetz territory. The company celebrated its new location (behind enemy lines) with an Instagram post which was captioned, "61 years. 10 states. and today, we open our first-ever [Ohio] store!"

Wawa's rival, Sheetz, currently operates five locations centered around the nearby Dayton, Ohio area, a mere hour's drive from Cincinnati. It first entered the state (seemingly marking its territory) in 1998 with a location in the Ohio city of Girard, near the Pennsylvania border and just off I-80. It has since opened 116 stores in the Buckeye state. While Sheetz has certainly covered some ground in this region, Wawa is not shying away from expanding, with 16 additional locations in Ohio already scouted, per CBS News.

The light-hearted rivalry between Wawa and Sheetz draws its roots from the geography that has traditionally separated the two; Wawa, based out of its namesake Wawa, Pennsylvania in Delaware County, mostly stuck to the eastern part of the state. Sheetz, the favorite fast-food spot for a certain celebrity chef, is headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and has seemingly dominated the western half of the state. Throughout the 90s and 2000s, the two evolved into similar entities, both offering quick bites that were made-to-order, like subs (or hoagies, if you prefer) and fried snacks. Steadfast fans of both are passionate about their gas station convenience store of choice, while others quietly tip-toe the line and enjoy the best of two similar, but separate, worlds.

In 2024, Wawa's President Brian Schaller actually addressed the urban legend that there was a "pact" between his company and Sheetz, which claimed that the two would each stick to either side of the state, and well, it's just not true. Especially since, as he pointed out, the stores cross paths in "about 60 stores in Virginia, [and] Lancaster a little bit," (via ABC27). And now, the rival chains meet again in Ohio, and certainly not for the last time.