On Tuesday, the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review approved designs for a new Sheetz Café on the Corner that will take over the spot previously occupied by Eddy’s Tavern.
Despite some debate among the Board members over the number of modifications to the historic building that the move would cause, the application passed unanimously.
While Sheetz Inc. has over 500 different locations across the eastern United States, the new Sheetz Café on the Corner would become just the fourth installment of this millennial-focused iteration of the popular convenience store. The first Sheetz Café opened in March 2015 near the West Virginia University campus, and this was followed by openings near Penn State University and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
According to Steve Augustin, Associate VP of Real Estate for Sheetz, the new Sheetz Cafés are aimed primarily at students and customers between the ages of 18 and 30. The 24-hour cafés do not have gas pumps, but they do feature the classic Sheetz Made-to-Order menus and both indoor and outdoor seating.
In a video released by the company featuring the opening of the first Sheetz café in Morgantown, West Virginia, Emily Sheetz said that the new cafés are an homage to the original Sheetz stores that opened in the 1950s.
“This concept is kind of an evolution of that first store with a real focus on our food and beverages,” she explains. “We are really targeting millennials with this offering, so it’s the perfect opportunity to reach them on college campuses.”
According to company spokesman Nick Ruffner, construction for the new Sheetz Café on the Corner is still in the planning and permitting stage. An exact opening date is not set.
