Wawa’s Pizza Will Probably Make You Sad

When Wawa announced earlier this week that it had begun selling pizza, it seemed—for however brief a moment—that the pizza gods had smiled down on this city, giving us yet another treat made convenient.

“Finally,” we Philadelphians thought, “a place to grab a pie at literally any time of day. And it’s Wawa, so surely the pizza is decent.”

Indeed, Wawa seemed equally confident, rolling out their newfound pizza program at all of the chain’s stores under a “Deep Dish Focaccia Pizza” moniker. What’s more, it’s available in five styles—plain, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, veggie and bacon-jalapeño—so you can change up your order depending on your preference—and all for about $6 a pop.

Unfortunately, though, what we’re dealing with here is pizza in name only.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/food_department/Wawas-pizza-will-probably-make-you-sad.html#Jpz5C35DqcBUciSw.99

George Takei Has A Bone To Pick With Wawa

Math: It’s hard, especially if you’re a convenience store like, say, Wawa. But don’t worry—best friend to the Internet, George Takei, is here to clear everything up.

Takei recently posted up an image of none other than a Wawa coffee cup to his massively popular Facebook page (7.4 million likes and counting) with a few sections underlined.

Yes, because math, indeed. Takei apparently took this perceived error to heart, calling the labels “rather misleading.” As you can imagine, the comments section of the post has gone into full-fervor mode, with Wawa’s endless line of zealots (AKA us) kindly—and not so kindly—explaining why, in fact, Wawa is never wrong. Like, ever.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/George-Takei-has-a-bone-to-pick-with-Wawa.html#1PywPH7AR3VUCEkQ.99

Pottstown Mini-Mart Approvals Raise Healthy Food Questions

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — Earlier this month, two new food retail shops were approved by borough council.

During the conditional use hearings that preceded their approval, the usual menu of concerns were aired by neighbors — parking, hours of operation — but another was raised as well.

Questions were raised about the healthiness of the food the shops would serve.

The first business on which council heard testimony will be called Goldie’s Corner, located at 451 N. Charlotte St. in the space most recently occupied by the Milkman Lunch Co. before that shop moved to High Street.

Read more:   http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140418/pottstown-mini-mart-approvals-raise-healthy-food-questions

Clerk, Two Friends, Rob Ephrata Convenience Store

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An Ephrata convenience store clerk and her two friends robbed the store of over $12,000 worth of goods and disappeared on Thursday.

Police are looking for Brittany Lee Taylor, 23, Anthony Joseph D’uva, 25 and Damion Lee Good, 24, all of Ephrata.

According to Ephrata Borough Police, at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, a patron discovered the Pricetown Ephrata Gas and Food Mart, 529 W. Main St., open but vacant.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/ephrata/news/clerk-two-friends-rob-ephrata-convenience-store/article_b6835b88-c11d-11e3-b9dd-001a4bcf6878.html

Super-Size Gas Stations Stir Hostility

The typical gas station of yesterday is a shell of what one looks like today.

Gas stations are twice the size, with more pumps; some have full-service restaurants, small grocery stores and 24-hour operations.

More convenience stores sell gas, too — a 14.2 percent increase to 126,658 locations from 2005 to 2014, according to the National Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing in Alexandria, Va.

In some communities, these mega-stations are hang-out spots on the weekends for the post-nightclub crowd — and they are attracting more opposition in the planning stages from residents who are leery of more traffic, noise, crime and bright lights.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5724398-74/gas-station-stations#ixzz2wkRXN8TE
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Company Promises To Reimburse Pottstown Clerk Who Got Robbed

POTTSTOWN, PA — The employee of the Citgo Gas Station who had money deducted from his paycheck after the establishment was robbed twice in one week could get his money back.

Jana Barnett, the lawyer representing Penn Oil Co., and Kathy Heck, the operations manager of the company, said Thursday that a special check was issued Wednesday for the employee. Heck said it was mailed Wednesday to the employee’s attorney, Adam Sager of Pottstown.

“No other money will be taken” from his paycheck, Heck said.

The employee was allegedly beaten during a robbery on Jan. 17. This was the second time the gas station had been robbed in a five-day period.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140130/company-promises-to-reimburse-pottstown-clerk-who-got-robbed

2 Arrested For Pair Of Thefts From Pottstown Citgo

POTTSTOWN, PA — Police arrested two men who each allegedly stole from a borough Citgo gas station in two different incidents earlier this month.

Scott T. Sinclair, 48, and Marzel D. Brickhouse, 46, were arrested over the weekend on charges related to stealing cash and lottery tickets, respectively, from the Citgo convenience store on the first block of West High Street.

Pottstown Police Capt. Robert Thomas said the first incident at the Citgo occurred Jan. 14 and involved “no confrontation.”

A cash box was placed somewhere inside the convenience store toward closing time and went missing, Thomas said. Pottstown Police responded around 9:23 p.m.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140127/2-arrested-for-pair-of-thefts-from-pottstown-citgo

At Sheetz, Gas Is Secondary To Food Sales

Sheetz located in Frostburg, Maryland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gasoline may bring them in the door, but everything about a Sheetz store is geared toward filling customers’ bellies after they top off their tanks.

“We look at ourselves as primarily a purveyor of food,” Stan Sheetz, chairman of Altoona-based gas-and-convenience store chain Sheetz Inc., said this month during a tour of one of his company’s stores in Blairsville.

Sheetz, who was CEO from 1995 until October and oversaw growth from 195 stores when he took the helm to more than 460 today, waved a hand across the expanse of the store, pointing to shelves stocked with snacks, coolers full of drinks, and the kitchen where workers prepare made-to-order sandwiches, coffee drinks and other food.

Nearly everything sold inside a Sheetz store can be consumed within minutes of walking out the door.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/5270418-74/sheetz-stores-convenience#ixzz2oPartSJi
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Judge: Pottstown Merchant Peddled ‘Death’ When He Sold K2

NORRISTOWN — Saying a Pottstown merchant peddled death when he sold synthetic marijuana from his downtown convenience store, a judge sent the man to state prison.

Rafie L. Ali, 35, who previously lived in an apartment above the Achi Store he operated at 315 E. High Street between February and May 2012, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday to seven to 14 years in a state correctional facility.

“He’s no different than a drug dealer, pure and simple,” said Judge Steven T. O’Neill, referring to Ali’s decision to sell the dangerous substance in a community that has waged a battle against drug dealers and addiction. “The nature of what was sold in that store destroys the fabric of a community. You engaged in danger in a community that doesn’t need it, doesn’t need any more drug dealers.”

Ali, who apologized for his conduct before learning his fate, remained solemn as the punishment was imposed.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20131126/judge-pottstown-merchant-peddled-death-when-he-sold-k2

Small-Business Owners Trying To Do Part In Revitalizing Clairton

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the past three years, Wandra Sparks has been walking in and out of an old Italian club along Waddell Avenue in downtown Clairton.

She watches as her husband Gus Sparks installs new plumbing and electrical systems or paints warm colors on expansive walls and a cathedral ceiling, and what seemed to be piecemeal improvements in a never-ending struggle now are part of a vision that others can see.

The Sparkses transformed a club that sat vacant for at least a decade into the Ribbon Room.

“It’s a mixture of old and new furnishings,” Wandra Sparks said. “It’s cozy and quaint. There’s such a warm feeling that you don’t even know you’re in a banquet hall.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmckeesport/yourmckeesportmore/4983262-74/clairton-businesses-business#ixzz2jPfS5b5I
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Police Search For Masked Suspect After Robbery At West Pottsgrove 7-Eleven

Location of West Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WEST POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP, PA — Police are turning to the public for help to find a man who allegedly robbed the 7-Eleven on West High Street Thursday night.

Police Chief Earl Swavely said the suspect police are looking for is a black male, but no other information was available.  When the man entered the store in the 1100 block of West High Street, he was wearing a ski mask over his face and a dark hooded sweatshirt, police said.

According to police, the unknown suspect was allegedly carrying a silver handgun during the incident.  The suspect left the store on foot, police said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20130913/police-search-for-masked-suspect-after-robbery-at-7-eleven

Customer Detains Robbery Suspect

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA – A customer stopped a masked man from leaving a convenient store after a robbery at Quick Food Mart on North Main Street on Sunday, according to charges filed.

Christopher Thomas, 25, of West Maple Street, Wilkes-Barre, was arraigned Monday by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township on two counts of robbery, and one count each of tampering with evidence, theft and criminal mischief.  He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $25,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Ghanshyam Majmundar called police just after 11 a.m. saying a robbery suspect is being detained by a customer inside the food mart.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/509989/Customer-detains-robbery-suspect

Route 422 East Reopens After Bomb Scare At Wawa Amity (video)

Westbound U.S. Route 422 (Benjamin Franklin Highway) approaching the intersection with Pennsylvania Route 662 in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DOUGLASSVILLE, PA – The Wawa on Benjamin Franklin Highway was closed for over an hour on Friday night while police investigated a possible bomb threat.

It turns out, the threat was a false alarm because the bomb was actually an electrical conduit covered in PVC pipe from an old lamp in the back parking lot.

Police responded to the Wawa around 5:30 p.m. and when they arrived, the connivence store had already been cleared of customers and the employees were sitting on the far edge of the grass lawn near the westbound highway traffic.

The continuos rush hour westbound traffic was a strange juxtaposition to empty eastbound lanes of the highway.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130511/NEWS01/130519886/route-422-east-reopens-after-bomb-scare-at-wawa-amity-(video)#full_story

Corbett Proposes Overhaul To State Liquor Control System

English: Interior of a Super Sheetz in Altoona, PA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The private businesses that would get the chance to sell beer, wine and liquor under Gov. Tom Corbett‘s proposed overhaul of the state liquor control system had mixed reactions to the proposal.

Eric White, spokesman for the Berks-based Redner’s Warehouse Markets, which also runs the Redner’s Quick Shoppes convenience stores, said the chain almost certainly would have to get into the beer business just to stay competitive with its rivals.

Lou Sheetz, executive vice president of the family-owned Sheetz chain based in Altoona, said the company loves the idea, is excited about it and believes consumers will be, too.

“We have been proponents of adult beverage sales reform in this state for a long time,” he said.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=447580

Sheetz Health Facility Opens

Sheetz located in Frostburg, Maryland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I think this is pretty amazing that a convenience store chain would build a wellness center for their employees.

CLAYSBURG – Sheetz employees now have a greater opportunity to improve their health with Wednesday’s opening of the $4 million Sheetz Center for Shwellness beside the Sheetz Distribution Center in the Walter Business Park near here.

“This is a state-of-the-art health and wellness center.  This creates an environment for our employees to be actively involved and more responsible for their health and wellness,” said Bill Young, director of compensation, benefits and risk.

Sheetz, along with its partner Marathon Health, will use medical staff to provide individual health and wellness coaching to employees and their eligible dependents.  The Shwellness Center is intended to help Sheetz employees improve their overall health by creating awareness of their own health conditions, while allowing them to better manage their medical care costs.  All services are offered to eligible employees and dependents free of charge.

Read more:  http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/566450/Sheetz-health-facility-opens.html?nav=725

Developers Of Planned Lower Macungie Shopping Center ‘Trying To Bridge Financial Gap’

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Developers of a proposed shopping center that would bring a Costco Warehouse and Target to Lower Macungie Township pitched their project to the East Penn School Board Monday night in anticipation of a future request for Tax Increment Financing.

Staten Island developer Timothy Harrison presented his vision for Hamilton Crossings – a $120 million, 580,000 square-foot shopping center proposed on 62 acres on both sides of Krocks Road between the Route 222 Bypass and Hamilton Boulevard. He told the school board he would be returning to ask the district to participate on a TIF committee.

Harrison and his partner Jeremy Fogel, executive director of The Goldenberg Group in Blue Bell, discussed financial hurdles involved with the site that are caused by geotechnical issues resulting from more than 70 years of use as an iron-ore mine. They told directors that much of the site consists of mine wash, a pancake batter-like substance that has to be removed and mixed with concrete or rock before it is returned to the ground. Harrison said the ground could not support buildings or a parking lot without remediation.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-east-penn-lower-mac-tif-20120814,0,2514578.story

7-Eleven Stores Pass 40,000 Locations – More Stores Than McDonald’s!

7-Eleven grows at the rate of a new store opening every three and a half hours.  Really…is that even necessary?  According to 7-Eleven brass, they will add another 2,000 to 2,500 more stores worldwide in 2011.  Five hundred of those will be in the U.S. and Canada.

7-Eleven said they have significant room to grow.  Amazingly, 7-Eleven only operates in 30 U.S. states.  7-Eleven is a subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The chain started in Dallas, Texas in 1927.  7-Eleven is now looking to buy existing convenience stores and convert them to 7-Eleven’s.  They are the Borg of the convenience store world.  Resistance is futile.

Another head-scratching factoid is that with a gazillion stores, 7-Eleven stores make up only 5% of the total number of convenience stores in our great nation.  Again, you read that correctly.  Cigarettes are 7-Eleven’s biggest selling item; however, customers can expect to see more hot food and bakery items down the road. 

The chain also has a large private-label program thereby allowing them, sometimes, to only sell the 7-Eleven brand of a particular product.  Less than half of 7-Eleven’s stores sell gasoline, which helps the company open stores faster and in smaller spaces.  On the other hand, 80% of U.S. convenience stores sell fuel.

Oh thank heaven for 7-Eleven…evidently.