Sheetz breaks ground for first Michigan location
A large crowd of Romulus officials and residents celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of a very welcome new neighbor last week. Sheetz, a major restaurant, convenience chain and gas station officially began construction of the first store location in Michigan located at 33380 Wick Road near the intersection of Wick and Vining Road in the multi-million dollar
Northpoint industrial/business complex under construction in Romulus.
“A little over a year ago I stepped in to my new role as Romulus Economic Development Director and within the first week we were told that the retailer that was going in at Wick and Vining had backed out. So we went to work with Northpoint the developers and sought out new candidates. We finally selected Sheetz,” Economic Development Director Kevin Krause posted on social media.
He congratulated the new retailer and noted this is the first Sheetz location in Michigan and that the company had donated a total of $30,000 to Michigan Special Olympics, Forgotten Harvest and The Romulus Library.
“These are the types of business we may spend more time finding, but are true community partners and the relationships will pay dividends for years to come,” Krause posted.
According to officials, Sheetz plans to open 50-60 stores in Michigan during the next 5-6 years, part of a $500 million
investment. The new Romulus location is expected to open late this year, officials said.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight welcomed the new business and
expressed his hope for other retailers to follow in the city.
“Economic development is a marathon, not a race. You have to start slow in order to go fast, right? The Sheetz corporation seeing and sharing our vision is a great start for us. However, we still have a long way to go before we are where we need to be,” McCraight posted on social media.
“Michigan is the first new state for Sheetz in two decades and we cannot wait for people to experience this first store, and everything our company has to offer,” said Travis Sheetz, president and CEO of Sheetz. “We look forward to creating great jobs for
Detroit-area residents, providing total customer focus for our community members, and being a good neighbor that is actively involved in every neighborhood our stores will serve.”
“You’re going to see things like drive-thrus with indoor seating and outdoor seating, lots of parking, mobile ordering and delivering, pretty heavy on the food side of things,” Sheetz said.
Residents, officials and beneficiaries of the civic donations welcomed the new location and expressed their gratitude for the financial contributions noting the immediate benefits for the community.
“It means the world to us,” said Tim Hileman, president of Michigan Special Olympics. “As they shared today, we received a $10,000 check that will go right to our local programs. So that fund will go to equipment, uniforms, support for increasing our athletes and presence.”
Each store location will employ approximately 30 individuals, the majority of which are planned to be full-time. Consistently named by Fortune as a 100 Best Company to Work For, Sheetz offers competitive pay and benefits packages to all employees, including medical and dental insurance, 12 weeks of fully paid
maternity leave, a 401(k) retirement plan, college tuition reimbursement, an
employee stock ownership plan, flexible
schedules, opportunities for advancement, quarterly bonuses, vacation time and more. Sheetz was also ranked third in the latest Best Workplaces in Retail list by Fortune, trailing only Wegmans Food Markets and Target for the second straight year.
The Pennsylvania-based company was established in 1952 and currently operates more than 700 stores across the country.