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July 29, 2021

Sheetz hoax in Pittsburgh shows their customers are just as crazed as Wawa lovers

University of Pitt students were crushed by the news that a sign for a store near campus turned out to be fake

Social Media Convenience Stores
Sheetz Pittsburgh Prank Wawa Courtesy/Sheetz

A sign advertising a Sheetz store 'coming soon' near the University of Pittsburgh was a rogue prank, a representatives for the Pennsylvania convenience store chain says. The disappointment may prove that Sheetz has just as intense of a fanbase as Wawa.

People in the Philadelphia area, and increasingly elsewhere in Wawa's territory, are known to be pretty fanatical about their love for the hallowed convenience store. The brand got a big boost recently out of Kate Winslet, "Mare of Easttown" and "Saturday Night Live," and Wawa's collaborations with 2SP Brewing Co. also go a long way toward keeping the convenience store on the minds of customers.

There's been a lot made in recent years about the rivalry between Wawa and Sheetz, whose biggest proponent may be Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. In some ways, it's a classic eastern versus central and western Pennsylvania competition. Football isn't enough. We need to squabble over who has the better convenience stores, too.

It's all in good fun, but if Wawa proponents believe they're the more diehard bunch, there's a story out of Pittsburgh that may put this in question.

The Pitt News, a daily, student-run newspaper at the University of Pittsburgh, reported Thursday that some dastardly prankster hung a fake "Coming Soon" sign for a Sheetz nearby campus in the Oakland section of the city.

For several days, Pitt students and residents in Oakland legitimately believed there was a Sheetz coming to 3500 Forbes Ave., as evidenced by discussion on Twitter.

Yeah, about that ...

Via The Pitt News:

Harry Hammel, public relations and social media supervisor for Planit, Sheetz's media relations agency of record, said Sheetz is not affiliated with the posted signs and has no plans to develop at the site.

"I can confirm that Sheetz is not planning to locate a store at this address," Hammel said. "The signs … are inaccurate."

The City Planning Commission in March approved a plan to build roughly 300 market-rate apartments on the former gas station site.

People excited about the new Sheetz didn't take this information well.

It even seems there's now a Fake Oakland Sheetz Twitter account to help people cope.

The person or persons responsible for this prank have yet to reveal themselves, but surely they're basking in a well-executed plan. 

Maybe this shows that Wawa fans take for granted that they're automatically the better supporters of their chosen convenience store. because here's some real heartbreak at the University of Pittsburgh this week.

The day someone pulls something like this in a Philly Wawa desert, like the Temple area, or in Fairmount or Northern Liberties, is going to be a dark one.

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