Sheetz Continues to Stock Up on Pennsylvania Liquor Licenses

ALTOONA, Pa. — Sheetz Inc. is making moves to build up its beer-store footprint across Pennsylvania.

The Altoona-based convenience retailer has added one liquor license in Madison Township, Clarion County and a second license for Oil City, Venango County, according to the Venango Extra.

"The goal of Sheetz is to sell beer in as many stores in Pennsylvania that we can," Nick Ruffner, Sheetz public relations manager told the news outlet. "The purchase of liquor licenses in Venango and Clarion counties marks the start of an evaluation process of which stores in those areas would be best for beer sales."

According to Ruffner, a liquor license does not have to be used in the municipality where it was purchased. The license can be transferred to any Sheetz store in the county in which it was acquired.

In a release on March 7, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) said it issued Notices of Selection to top bidders on 42 licenses following the March 3 deadline for the second restaurant license auction.

Winning bids range from $25,001 for a license in Lower Yoder Township, Cambria County, to $463,802 for a license in Abington Township, Montgomery County. The average winning bid in the second auction was $119,315, according to the PLCB.

The number of bids received for each of the 42 licenses receiving bids ranged from one to five.

In all, Sheetz won the bids for 17 liquor licenses in 15 Pennsylvania counties. Other winning bidders included Giant Food Stores LLC, Turkey Hill LP and Giant Eagle Inc.

Sheetz operates more than 500 convenience stores in six states: Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.