East College Avenue Sheetz near Lemont to close

Sheetz announced in a press release Monday that one of its Centre County locations will close Wednesday.

People who stop at the 2000 E. College Ave. store at the intersection with Houserville Road and Pike Street near Lemont will have to go elsewhere for a snack and gas.

“While the decision to close a store is never easy, we are continually assessing the performance of our store locations and customer’s needs,” Sheetz CEO Joe Sheetz said in the release. “As a result of these reviews, we made the decision to close our store on College Avenue.”

The store’s employees, according to the press release, will be retained and relocated to one of the other existing stores in the area. Nearby Sheetz stores are located off Shiloh Road, South Ridge Plaza, North Atherton Street and Valley Vista Drive.

“We are focused on food and beverage growth and we are evaluating all our existing stores on their overall brand presence, physical capabilities and potential to accommodate our future business needs,” Sheetz said. “We are excited for the new era of Sheetz, which includes our newest concept, opening this fall in downtown State College.”

More than two years in development, the new fuel-free concept store will substitute gas with beer at 129 S. Pugh St. It is slated to open in the fall.

Tony Sapia, whose family owns the building that the new Sheetz will be in, said renovations to the 5,000-square-foot space began in April and that the convenience store chain, based in Altoona, signed a five-year lease with an option to continue operating.

The store will be the second of its kind — without gas pumps but with a beer cave. The first Sheetz store with the same concept opened in March near West Virginia University in Morgantown.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 8:01 AM with the headline "East College Avenue Sheetz near Lemont to close."