Sheetz has announced the impending closure of its Emporium convenience store and gas station, but Cameron County officials hope they might be able to intervene and keep the family-owned chain in the borough.
On Friday, Nick Ruffner, PR manager for Sheetz, confirmed the news about the Cameron County store, which has been open since 1987.
“Sheetz has made the difficult decision to permanently close its store located on West Fourth Street in Emporium, Pa. It is expected that this store will close in late September. All employees at this store location will be offered employment at other Sheetz locations in the region. We thank our customers for their years of support and look forward to serving them at our other locations in the region.”
Every Sheetz store employs about 30 people, he said.
The most recent census said there’s 1,870 people who make Emporium their home, which means the loss of 30 jobs would make a dent. Borough Manager Don Reed said the borough, Cameron County commissioners and the chamber of commerce are working together in an effort to reach out to Sheetz “to say hey, what’s the problem?”
Reed said he thinks the issue is the store’s lot is landlocked, unable to expand like others have done in the region.
“They are able to provide more services at other places,” Reed said. For example, there isn’t room for diesel pumps at the Emporium facility. “I bet there’s 200 water trucks driving through the borough a day. That’s a loss of revenue for them.”
County officials are looking at other potential locations in the borough they could offer as an enticement to keep the store. “We have several locations we’re going to be sharing with them,” Reed said.
“I think we’ve found who we need to be talking to,” he said. “We’ll sit down and talk about how we could make this work.”
Of course, the final decision will be made by Sheetz, but the officials don’t plan to give up without doing all they can.
“We have too much tenacity,” Reed said with a laugh. “We have to be reactive rather than proactive, but that’s where we are. No one expected this to happen.”
The commissioners, chamber and borough are working together “to come up with some game plans. There’s some (properties) that are commercially owned that the borough has, that we could talk about.
“We would certainly like to have them stay.”
Reed said Cameron County took a big hit a few years back when GKN Sinter Metals sold to American Axle and closed the Emporium plant. “We lost our major employer. That was 160 jobs. You hate to lose any business.”
Many have suggested the county should turn its focus to tourism, but Reed pointed out some flaws with that plan. “We’re not Wellsboro with the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. We’re not Mount Jewett with the Kinzua Bridge.”
The borough itself is in good shape, he said, adding “Emporium Borough carries absolutely no debt. We’re still keeping our heads above water.”
While much of economic development is attracting new business to an area, Reed said it’s also very important to keep what you have, and find out if there’s anything you can do to help.
“What do we need to do to keep you and help you expand? What do we need to do to have you get five more employees? What can we do to help you rebuild or expand in Emporium?” he said, explaining areas where officials can help.
Speaking of Sheetz, Reed reiterated, “It’s their decision, we all know that.”
The company has been easy to work with through the years, he said, and he’s hopeful they will be willing to entertain some ideas for staying in the borough.
“It’s not over,” Reed said.
