Wawa breaks ground on first West Virginia location, expanding into rival Sheetz's territory
INWOOD, W. Va. (KDKA) -- Wawa broke ground in West Virginia, moving into an area where rival Sheetz already operates dozens of stores.
Wawa is coming to the Mountain State after the company broke ground in the Eastern Panhandle.
"It's official! We're heading to West Virginia and broke ground in Inwood today!" Wawa wrote on social media Wednesday alongside a video of the celebrations.
The Sheetz-Wawa rivalry divides the state, with the western half usually siding with Altoona-based Sheetz and the eastern half picking Wawa. Wawa, however, has been moving into Sheetz territory, recently breaking ground on a central Pennsylvania location nearby an existing Sheetz.
Sheetz has over 740 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina, and the chain has recently been moving into Michigan. Wawa has about 1,000 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Earlier this year, Wawa announced plans to open stores in three new states: Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
The rivalry flared up on social media in April when President Biden stopped by Sheetz during his visit to Pittsburgh, but he played it neutral and visited Wawa in Philadelphia the next day. Even celebrities have weighed in on the debate. During Post Malone's concert at Star Lake last summer, he sported a Wawa shirt, prompting a little Photoshop job from Sheetz to add their logo instead.