June 06, 2017
JACQUELINE LARMA/AP
Bubba, 2, leans out of his owner's pickup truck parked in front of the first Wawa convenience store, opened in April 1964, in Folsom, Pa., Thursday April 22, 2004.
The creeping narrative that Sheetz is somehow a superior convenience store to Wawa has been gaining ground in recent months, fueled by a report from a site called GasBuddy and an aggressive hiring push by Sheetz.
In Philadelphia and South Jersey, bastions of the Wawa brand, Sheetz isn't in the same league as Wawa. Is it a bad place? Not at all. It just isn't Wawa, where you can now order your food with a mobile app and geek out over these everlasting jingles.
Outside the Delaware Valley, where the western half of Pennsylvania becomes Sheetz territory, the debate is becoming fierce. We now have elected officials trading tweets about it.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, rejoiced on Twitter on Wednesday that Washington, D.C., will receive its very first Wawa—a large store at 1111 19th St., to boot.
Boyle may have been several weeks late to the celebration, but his allegiance is clear.
The fact D.C. will now have @Wawa brings me such happiness and joy. @daveweigel @CillizzaCNN
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) June 6, 2017
All is well, right? Nope. In comes gigantic Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, the grassroots progressive who nearly gave Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak a scare in last year's Democratic primary for the senate nomination.
But a @sheetz tho... https://t.co/YnjDsn90TM
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) June 6, 2017
Uh, yeah.. I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you. M'kay? https://t.co/ES53nRrlei
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) June 6, 2017
I have to say it because I could never lie to my fellow citizens... 😇 https://t.co/SbpWu59pqj
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) June 6, 2017
Boyle, having heard about enough of this, fired back.
Fake news! 😄 I happen to like @Sheetz too (still have the Sheetz card on my keychain from when I was a state Rep). But I'm a @Wawa guy.
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) June 6, 2017
Fetterman, as possibly only he could do, simply declared his own victory.
.@daveweigel @RepBrendanBoyle @sheetz @Wawa @BrianPHickey pic.twitter.com/1JCpeY4JqP
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) June 6, 2017
And then for good measure, Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico chimed in on the debate. What a mystery. Sheetz is headquartered in Altoona.
@Wawa? Never heard of them….
— Matt Pacifico (@AltoonaMayor) June 6, 2017
Politicians of the Wawa realm, please ask yourselves if you have anything better to do than defend Wawa on Twitter right now. If you're too busy for that, it's fine. No one here gives two Sheetz what these guys think. Wawa is better.
