New Sheetz Draws Crowd in Hagerstown, Md.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- The Sheetz buzz has hit Hagerstown as customers began lining up outside the chain's newest convenience store here hours before the doors opened this morning.

As part of its promotional campaign around the new store on Eastern Boulevard, the first 50 people at the doors were expected to receive a $100 store gift card, Sheetz District Manager Beth Towns told the Herald Mail. Store employees began taking the names of the first 50 people waiting outside the store at 7 a.m. this morning. According to Towns, they are also conducting a roll call every 30 minutes and if a person does not respond, they are bumped off the list.

This store is the first the Altoona, Pa.-based convenience store chain is opening in Hagerstown in more than 10 years. And while the company continues to scout new markets -- like North Carolina -- executives have touted Hagerstown for its strong customer base and growth opportunities.

"We opened our first Hagerstown store in 1982. That 30-year relationship with the community there is something we value greatly," Stan Sheetz, president and CEO, said in a company release. "We are eager to open this newest location and give our customers there a bigger, better in-store experience."

The new store measures 6,000 square feet and offers fresh food options, including the MTGO! and Shweetz Bakery lines of sandwiches, wraps, doughnuts and muffins, and the signature MTO line of Angus beef burgers, premium grilled chicken sandwiches and fresh salads.

Sheetz has also caused a stir with recent store openings in North Carolina and Pittsburgh, where customers waited in line for more than 17 hours.

The c-store operator is on course to reach 400 stores this month and 500 stores within the next three years, as CSNews Online previously reported. Sheetz is seeing its most rapid growth in West Virginia and North Carolina, with the Tar Heel State its No. 1 growth market.