Hoagie v Sub / Wawa v Sheetz

Yous guys are drawin'.

 

I ain't "round those parts" no mo. When I was a youngun'.......provalone-no wiz wit. Sourdough bread, Louisiana red hot and a keg of birch beer. Good to go. What the hell is Wawa? (Besides Barbara Walters last name to Gilda Radner)

*Best one of those things I've had in decades was at a retired Philly DJ's place in the middle of nowhere, Georgia............(he had every ingredient imported from home base)

 

Wawa is Gods gift to the northeast...

 

unless you actually live in philadelphia, where wawa is a wasteland of vagrants and crackheads hanging out by the doors and banging on your car window begging for money.

 

It saddens me how many of the city Wawas have shut down as they focus more on the suburban gas game.

 

I didn't know this

 

Center City lost a few. But one of those affected me so I took it pretty hard.

But they seem to be holding strong outside of CC. Aramingo a personal favorite.

Here's an old post from Philebrity commenting on it: Wawa

 

21st & Hamilton is my favorite. Such a CF.

They are closing the ones that don't have gas stations in other places too. Just closed one off of NJ-70. I guess the calculus is that with the gas stations, they will get more business inside.

 

*pushes up glasses*

Well actually they're in Virginia and Florida, too.

*puffs inhaler*

 

"you dont even know what a wawa is" should be an away support tifo

 

Not in Central PA though. In the land of Turkey Hill, Sheetz, and Rutters I am... :/

 

I don't know of any Wawa's that go any farther north than Blakeslee, PA (in the Poconoes).

But, a few have followed Philly transplants into the South.

I know how Sheetz and Wawa are direct competitors, their set-up is so similar. I've wondered since my Penn State years if they have some arrangement of not stepping on one another's "home" territory in Pennsylvania. The closest I've seen them in proximity was in Virginia (about a mile apart).

 

I have never stopped at a Sheetz but I am physically incapable of driving by one without screaming "OH SHEEEETZ!"

 

NEPA has Sheetz and SEPA has Wawa. So I just consider it the best of both worlds.

 

Stop reminding me that they randomly skipped GA

 

*looks up from calculator*

The Carolinas, too.

 

Of course Wawa started as a suburban chain so it isn't like they are abandoning their roots. For years I walked up to Wawa #1 in Folsom to get my iced teas.

From what I remember from my college business course, the reason they started doing gas was because gas stations with mini-markets were cutting into their profit. Gas stations would make most their money off of gas and anything from the mini-market side was extra. So Wawa would open up new Wawa's with a gas stations and sell their gas at a loss (since their main income isn't gas but overpriced conveniences) and run the gas stations out of business. Then they'd move their gas prices back towards what it is everywhere else since by then they are pretty much the only game in town. Then they are making bank on both gas and conveniences.

From what I understand they have a gentleman's agreement of sorts not to infringe on each other's territories. They both sort of realize that they have a monopoly in their respective areas so they don't want to get into a war with each other where they will ultimately cannibalize each other's profits.

 

There was an article in Philadelphia Magazine a few years ago that confirmed this rumor.

 

I'm a SEPA fan of The Wa, but I have to admit that I do enjoy the variety on the MTO menu at Sheetz.


Blasphemy?

 

I enjoy both. I think Sheetz offers too much, which dilutes the quality to a certain extent. But I think Wawa has started down that road in recent years. Keep it simple!

 

I have a question regarding Philly cheese steaks and I figured I'd pose it to the experts (y'all.)

What makes the perfect cheese steak? The meat? The bread? The cheese? Or is it the combination of all the ingredients into something greater than the sum of its parts?

The reason I ask is my job allows me to travel quite a bit. Yesterday I was in Kissimmee, FL and found a spot called Ray's Steak & Subs (he calls them hoagies on the menu.) The owner lived in Philly, moved to central FL and opened up shop. I had a cheese steak (it had American cheese) and wondered if it was legit. I attached a pic of the hoagie.

Also, I passed a Wawa. I have never stopped into one of those before. I'll add that to my to-do list.

P.S. They're all called grinders. Grindah in my mother tongue.

 

I find the bread is pretty important. But really it all comes down to personal preference.

Give me a Chink's (Joe's) or John's with American and fried onions and I'm set.