Sheetz Breaks Ground On 1st Philly-Area Store

LIMERICK, PA — Western Pennsylvania icon Sheetz, a gas station and market convenience store famous for its rivalry with Wawa, will make its first broach onto its rival's Philadelphia area in Montgomery County.

The Limerick Township Board of Supervisors gave final approval to the building plan earlier this summer. Ground officially broke on the new project on Aug. 5, and the improvements are readily noticeable from the road.

To intensity the rivalry even further, the new Sheetz is being built on the busy corner of Ridge Pike and Swamp Pike, which is just down the street from an existing super Wawa. It's also near the Limerick Diner.

An exact completion date and grand opening date have not yet been announced.

"Since then, our crew has been hard at work shaping the site — transforming those first scoops of earth into the foundation of what will soon be a go-to stop for fuel, food, and convenience," Semmel Excavating, a contractor on the early stages of construction, shared on social media on Tuesday. "We’re proud to be part of bringing this exciting project to life — and if you’ve driven by lately, you’ve already seen how quickly things are changing."

It's not the only Sheetz incursion into Wawa territory, however, as a location has also been approved for Downingtown. That store won't be open until Sept. 2026, however, according to Sheetz.

Sheetz is seeking to get a liquor license so that they can sell beer, something that only a handful of Wawa locations in the region have done.

A Board of Supervisors hearing was held on Aug. 5 and featured feedback from the public and officials. The Board will vote on the application — which is actually a transfer of an existing license which Sheetz bought — at an upcoming meeting.

The application had been fraught with controversy over the winter and into the early spring, mainly because of increased traffic in the area, conflict with Wawa, and changes that will need to be made to the site to facilitate the new Sheetz.

Sheetz stretches as far east as the Outer Banks, but until now, they haven't gotten closer to the Philly area than Reading in Berks County and Easton in Northampton County.