Since the creation of Sheetz in 1952 and Wawa in 1964, these gas station chains have competed to win the favor of Pennsylvanians all over the commonwealth. Sheetz has primarily reigned over regions like northeast and central Pennsylvania and Wawa has been confined to Philadelphia and surrounding states like New Jersey and Delaware. However, Wawa has begun expanding into areas outside of its typical territory. Wawa intends to build new locations in York, Dauphin, Franklin, Union and other counties by 2025. Due to this expansion, this seems an appropriate time to ask the question of which is better, Wawa or Sheetz?
The first people I questioned were those on the floor where I live on campus, done via a GroupMe poll. The winner by a landslide was Wawa, with 17 votes, while Sheetz only received 10. The poll brought out many members of the group who normally would stay quiet, showing the sheer intensity of this topic among Pennsylvania residents.
The next stop was to ask my closest friends for their opinions, which like the poll that was conducted, was divisive.
The first friend I asked for their opinion was my roommate, senior Lux Hileman.
“Wawa tries too hard to be bougie,” Hileman said.
Although Wawa was in the lead at the beginning, there was one last group of people to ask, my family. My father and stepmother both had differing opinions, my father preferring Wawa, while my stepmother chose Sheetz. My parents did bring up a good point though — their preference depends on where they grew up and what was local. My sister Valerie Owens, who works for Kinsley Construction, a company that was contracted to build a Wawa, swung more towards Sheetz.
“Sheetz’s curly fries are amazing,” she said. “Get cheese sauce with them; they slap. Wawa for a panini though. Their bacon ranch paninis are amazing.”
Surprisingly, when asked about which was better, some people had never been to either gas station. Others preferred different gas station chains like Rutters or Royal Farms over Sheetz and Wawa.
To tally up the total, Wawa won this debate with 19 votes and Sheetz finished with 14. An extra vote was added to Sheetz because of my preference. As my parents mentioned, I did not grow up around Wawa, so I’m accustomed to Sheetz. Due to that, I have a bias, but I do like Wawa in its own right. Both chains have their upsides and downsides to going there. In the end it really is up to personal preference.
