Fuel and Food Are Quick, but the Fealty Is Forever

[cpzilliacus]

N.Y. Times on Sheetz vs. its in-state rival, Wawa: Fuel and Food Are Quick, but the Fealty Is Forever

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The fat columns and thick canopy are a neon Stonehenge, beckoning travelers to gather in pagan adulation. Out-of-staters passing by on Route 15 may be mystified by the name, but to residents of central Pennsylvania the brightly lighted Sheetz convenience store, stocked with Utz chips and a Cupo'ccino machine, is a source of pride – no, passion.

"I would have to say I'm a Sheetz girl,"  said Jennifer Zack, 34, handing the cashier a loyalty card with her coffee order.

Jeff Marquette, 32, a cable installer stopping for a sandwich, said: "I drive out of my way to go to Sheetz. That's sad, I know."

Convenience stores are supposed to be interchangeable, selling low-priced gas and self-serve coffee based on the proposition that when you need a pit stop, you turn in to the first you see, right there.

But in Pennsylvania, two convenience chains stir tribal loyalties, a commitment as deep as bonds with the Philadelphia Phillies or Pittsburgh Pirates.

[1995hoo]

I seem to recall the Washington Post running a very similar article a few years ago.

Guess the Times had a slow news day (given that they published that prior to today's bombshell from Rome).

[cpzilliacus]

I seem to recall the Washington Post running a very similar article a few years ago.

Guess the Times had a slow news day (given that they published that prior to today's bombshell from Rome).

I don't recall that, and such an article would have caught my attention.  It is, of course, possible that I missed it, though I do recall reading in the Post about the WaWa store on U.S. 1 (Baltimore Avenue) in College Park.

It would likely have caught my attention in part because the ossified zoning ordinance of my home county (Montgomery County, Maryland), and its accompanying heaps of planning process and related legal expenses, combined with far too many hyperactive citizens (who tend to be NIMBYs, often under operating under a stated cover of being concerned about The Environment) have effectively helped to make 7-11 a de-facto monopoly when it comes to convenience stores.  There are very few non-7-11 convenience stores in the county, and not a single Royal Farm, Sheetz or WaWa.

Were the anti-monopoly laws set-up as they are in the EU (where governmental units can be (and are) hauled before a judge for deterring economic competition, much more difficult to do in  the U.S., as I understand it), Montgomery County and its County Council and its land use planners would be in court nearly continuously.