Kent State commuters, Theodore Roosevelt High School students and residents living near Fairchild Avenue all have a new, one-stop shop to visit in the midst of the Fairchild Bridge construction project.

Kent’s second Sheetz store, located at the corner of Fairchild Avenue and state Route 43, officially opened its doors for business at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday with greeters and free doughnuts.

“It’s been a slow start,” said store manager Marie Cetor. “But as soon as we said we were open, we had our first customers come in.”

Cetor said the store had more than 100 customers in the first few hours, most of which were construction workers from across the street.

MOST OF WHOM

While the store is smaller than the location on state Route 59, it offers most of the same goods and services as Kent’s first Sheetz store. TECHNICALLY, THAT’S NOT IN KENT….

Bailey Wiland, sophomore business management major, said the convenience of the location is what sets it apart.

“I think the students are really excited to have another one so close to campus,” Wiland said. “I think it’s a good thing for the city.”

No real advertising was done for the opening of the store, and Cetor said that for now, they are relying on “word of mouth,” and the fact that Kent residents are already familiar with Sheetz stores, to draw a crowd.

“A lot of people already knew when we were getting started since we were at the other Kent store doing training,” she said. “In about a month or so, depending on how business is going, we’ll run the radio spots.”

Though there may be some competition from the other Sheetz location, Cetor said she isn’t too worried about it interfering with her store’s profits.

“We’re expecting a different demographic,” she said. “We’re going to get a lot of the high school kids who get out for lunch and a lot of the commuter… plus, being so close to the bars we should have a pretty good night rush.”

You can contact Kate Sheafer at [email protected].