BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Some folks like Sheetz.
Some folks love Sheetz.
And then there is Jean Kovacz.
“I drove here about an hour today from my home in Phoenixville,” Kovacz said at the grand opening of the Sheetz convenience store grand opening at l780 E. 4th St.
"My friends weren't lying; the coffee is great."New Scheetz customer Jean Kovacz
“I’d never been to a Sheetz, but all my friends said how great the food and coffee is. There aren’t any Sheetz near my house, so I drove up here.”
Kovacz took a sip of a large coffee, which, along with soft drinks, was free to customers all day.
“My friends weren’t lying; the coffee is great,” she said.
The new Sheetz store joins Lehigh Valley locations in Whitehall Township, Allentown and on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. The chain also has bought land in Hellertown, eyeing a location there,
That trails Scheetz's biggest competitor, Wawa convenience stores, which has nine Lehigh Valley locations.
Giveaways, donations, more
But Thursday's grand opening was attended in droves.
Folks lined up well before the 9 a.m. start of a celebration that consisted of giveaways, a raffle for prizes ranging from $250 to $2,500, and free swag that included travel mugs, tumblers, travel umbrellas, glasses, mini flashlights, sunglasses, baseball caps and more.
A special grand prize giveaway for one lucky customer was free Sheetz for a year.
Sheetz emphasizes its commitment to its community when a new store opens.
“Once we open these doors, we don’t close them. We’re here for the community.”Store Manager Kirsten Croll
The company donated $2,500 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania as well as $2,500 to the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania.
Sheetz also encouraged customers to donate a non-perishable food item to assist the food bank.
“It’s super exciting today,” store Manager Kirsten Croll said. “This is one of the best experiences, opening a new store.
“Once we open these doors, we don’t close them. We’re here for the community.”
'Everything you could want'
Customers inside the store were complimentary of the roomy aisles, plenty of seating, food and beverage choices, video ordering kiosks, fresh baked goods and the option to buy beer.
Need a car fill-up? Twelve gas pumps were at the ready.
“This place has everything you could want — and it's open all the time,” Genevieve Rockley of Bethlehem said. “And if you’re in a hurry, there’s a drive-thru. I’ll be here quite often.”
Janelle Mishko didn’t mind munching a cup of golden curly fries at 9:30 a.m.
Asked whether the fries were as tasty as they appeared, she said, “You don’t see me stopping, do you?”
Jeremy DelCastro of Fountain Hill spoke for just about all who wedged their way into Sheetz on grand opening day.
"I'd drive 10 minutes out of my way for Sheetz coffee," he said.
Jean Kovacz has him beat by almost an hour.
