PASSHE Institutions Merging

[ctrabs74]

Sheetz also tried a gasless location in downtown Morgantown. It too failed.

I could see it working in a place like downtown Pittsburgh or Oakland (Pittsburgh). There's enough foot traffic and the current options (7-11) are as bad as you could imagine.

The nearest Get Go to the Pitt campus is either in the South Side on Carson (one at 18th, the other near the Hot Metal Bridge) and one at Baum & Morewood near UPMC Shadyside. I'm not sure where you'd build a gas pump-less Sheetz in Oakland unless you put it somewhere on campus.

[nodnol]

Wawa has a few gasless stations in Delaware and I believe one in PA on U.S. 202 (it might be just on the DE side, not 100% sure.) In my experience, they’re all much shoddier than any of the locations that have gas pumps.

There is also a newer Wawa in Abington that's gasless - it replaced a much older, smaller one that I went to a lot back in the 80s. But then there are a couple bigger ones within a couple of miles that have gas so I'm not sure how much traffic the gasless one gets.

[Ship69]

Eh. BU doesn’t have a full-blown convenience store on campus, but the Husky Lounge at the Kehr Union has some overlap with similar products like grab & go meals, grab & go salads, bottled soda/sports drinks, and snacks (chips/Slim Jims/sweets). It’s cool for Nova students that they’ll be able to get all the fancy coffees and stuff though.

Ship has a sort of junior convenience store called Big Red's Cupboard in the Ceddia Union Building where students can grab some snacks and drinks. There are also a Dunkin' and a Chick-Fil-A in the CUB. There is a Starbucks in the library.

[Bart]

Sheetz also tried a gasless location in downtown Morgantown. It too failed.

I could see it working in a place like downtown Pittsburgh or Oakland (Pittsburgh). There's enough foot traffic and the current options (7-11) are as bad as you could imagine.

There also was a Wawa on Drexel's campus but it closed.

[IUPNation]

I think it would be almost entirely a food (and coffee) outlet. One thing that is different for Wawa is that there won't be gas pumps. Virtually all of Wawa's new locations have gas pumps, which helps their profitability. The gas-less locations they have opened up in the city haven't succeeded. Nation can correct me if I'm wrong on that.

The center City ones closed because there are less workers during day due to WFH..and thry catered to the daytime workforce before Covid. Center City residents don’t go to Wawa. It was just an easier narrative for Wawa to use “crime” as an excuse they had too many stores nobody was going into..,,

[TheBigCat2192]

Sheetz also tried a gasless location in downtown Morgantown. It too failed.

I could see it working in a place like downtown Pittsburgh or Oakland (Pittsburgh). There's enough foot traffic and the current options (7-11) are as bad as you could imagine.

Wawa has a few gasless stations in Delaware and I believe one in PA on U.S. 202 (it might be just on the DE side, not 100% sure.) In my experience, they’re all much shoddier than any of the locations that have gas pumps.

[Fightingscot82]

Sheetz also tried a gasless location in downtown Morgantown. It too failed.

I could see it working in a place like downtown Pittsburgh or Oakland (Pittsburgh). There's enough foot traffic and the current options (7-11) are as bad as you could imagine.

[TheBigCat2192]

Food chains, yes, come and go frequently. They change constantly because most don't make any money and pull out. Obviously it's very difficult for most to survive the dead periods.

A full-blown convenience store (by a major brand) on campus is a fairly new concept. I'm talking 'on' campus, not nearby.

Eh. BU doesn’t have a full-blown convenience store on campus, but the Husky Lounge at the Kehr Union has some overlap with similar products like grab & go meals, grab & go salads, bottled soda/sports drinks, and snacks (chips/Slim Jims/sweets). It’s cool for Nova students that they’ll be able to get all the fancy coffees and stuff though.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think it would be almost entirely a food (and coffee) outlet. One thing that is different for Wawa is that there won't be gas pumps. Virtually all of Wawa's new locations have gas pumps, which helps their profitability. The gas-less locations they have opened up in the city haven't succeeded. Nation can correct me if I'm wrong on that.

The one they tried near IUP (Sheetz) was gasless but it did sell beer and wine.

The other Sheetz near IUP are full-on madhouses about 18 hours per day.

I had heard Sheetz found the gasless location to also be a major headache with all the drunks and thefts. In the end the mighty dollar (lack thereof) made them pull out.

Oddly the location is still vacant years later. It has major parking flaws which also didn't help.

[iupgroundhog]

Food chains, yes, come and go frequently. They change constantly because most don't make any money and pull out. Obviously it's very difficult for most to survive the dead periods.

A full-blown convenience store (by a major brand) on campus is a fairly new concept. I'm talking 'on' campus, not nearby.

I think it would be almost entirely a food (and coffee) outlet. One thing that is different for Wawa is that there won't be gas pumps. Virtually all of Wawa's new locations have gas pumps, which helps their profitability. The gas-less locations they have opened up in the city haven't succeeded. Nation can correct me if I'm wrong on that.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, I don't see where this is a novel concept. Chains have been on college campuses for a long time.

As far as the profitability of that location, Nova campus is pretty dead over the summer and during breaks (everybody leaves) but they could close it down during those periods and shift employees to other nearby locations without batting an eye. Villanova is a lot more residential than it used to be with their new dorms. Back when I lived in that particular area students were more dispersed throughout the outlying communities, but I would think they are more concentrated on campus now, and Villanova students in general have little regard for how much money they spend. It should be a popular venue.

The other thing pertaining to branding is that Villanova students and their parents hail from all over the map so they will take that allegiance to the Wawa brand with them. That's a plus for Wawa, considering these convenience store chains seem to all be looking for expansion opportunities.

Food chains, yes, come and go frequently. They change constantly because most don't make any money and pull out. Obviously it's very difficult for most to survive the dead periods.

A full-blown convenience store (by a major brand) on campus is a fairly new concept. I'm talking 'on' campus, not nearby.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I just thought it was interesting Wawa went along with putting one on a campus while Sheetz closed one right on the doorstep of IUP.

Sheetz wasn't making any money at that location. The kids are only here in force 8 months and the locals avoided it like the plague.

It was really that simple.

[IUPNation]

I just thought it was interesting Wawa went along with putting one on a campus while Sheetz closed one right on the doorstep of IUP.

[iupgroundhog]

Presumably it’s just a franchise license granted to whoever does Nova’s main dining contract (Aramark or the like), so the money is likely somewhat less of a concern than it would be for a regular franchisee. Our schools have been doing this for ages with different fast or fast casual joints; Bloomsburg alone has a Subway, Starbucks, Qdoba, Dunkin’, and a Chick-Fil-A. I’d expect the quality difference when compared to a “regular” location to be about the same as it is at one of those.

Yeah, I don't see where this is a novel concept. Chains have been on college campuses for a long time.

As far as the profitability of that location, Nova campus is pretty dead over the summer and during breaks (everybody leaves) but they could close it down during those periods and shift employees to other nearby locations without batting an eye. Villanova is a lot more residential than it used to be with their new dorms. Back when I lived in that particular area students were more dispersed throughout the outlying communities, but I would think they are more concentrated on campus now, and Villanova students in general have little regard for how much money they spend. It should be a popular venue.

The other thing pertaining to branding is that Villanova students and their parents hail from all over the map so they will take that allegiance to the Wawa brand with them. That's a plus for Wawa, considering these convenience store chains seem to all be looking for expansion opportunities.

[TheBigCat2192]

A lot of chains don't do real well, financially, opening on campuses. You'd think they would but there's a lot of dead time (about 4.5 months of the year). That's real hard to offset.

Neat concept for sure.

Presumably it’s just a franchise license granted to whoever does Nova’s main dining contract (Aramark or the like), so the money is likely somewhat less of a concern than it would be for a regular franchisee. Our schools have been doing this for ages with different fast or fast casual joints; Bloomsburg alone has a Subway, Starbucks, Qdoba, Dunkin’, and a Chick-Fil-A. I’d expect the quality difference when compared to a “regular” location to be about the same as it is at one of those.