Published: November 06, 2009 12:00 am      

Sheetz planning bigger Virginia Avenue store

Company building directly behind existing location

CUMBERLAND — Sheetz will expand its presence on Virginia Avenue next year with a bigger store to be built directly behind its existing one.

“We needed more parking and more space for maneuvering,” said Sheetz Inc. Director of Real Estate Steve Augustine. “We have an agreement for sale in place to purchase the building directly behind the existing store.”

Cumberland Economic Development Coordinator Brenda Smith said that BGH Electronics and Covenant Life Christian Center will have to relocate from the former Kline Furniture building.

Augustine said the new 4,056-square-foot store will be directly behind the existing one.

“Right now the plan is to raze the building behind the current store and the new building will sit at that location,” he said. “Once the new building is complete, the current Sheetz store will be torn down.”

He said the new store will be similar to the remodeled Sheetz in Frostburg. There will also be new gas pumps put in once the new building is finished and the old one is demolished.

“The current store will stay up and be open while the new one is being built,” he said. “However, we will be out of the gasoline business for about two weeks but the new store will be open.”

Augustine added Sheetz is working with H.F. Lenz Co., a civil engineering consultant out of Johnstown, Pa., and he hopes all the permit applications will be submitted within the next 30 days.

“We would love to start the project this summer and, depending on permits and approvals, our intent is to start in July or August.”

But this may not be the only Sheetz change in Cumberland. Both Smith and Augustine said the company is looking at potential areas within the city to build an additional store. However, nothing is concrete and this is just a possibility for the future.

Sheetz will also be building a new store in the former Jenkins Chrysler dealership on U.S. Route 220 south of Keyser.

Augustine said Sheetz bought the property directly from the owners for $450,000.

“We purchased the property last week and, weather permitting, we hope to start ‘demoing’ and grading the site as soon as possible and begin construction in March,” he said. “It normally takes about 16 weeks to build a new facility.”

Augustine adds the proposed store for this location will be 4,997 square feet and once it is open, the current Sheetz in Keyser will close.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.