The Brownstown-Rothsville exit of Route 222 is set to become disputed territory in the Wawa-Sheetz rivalry sometime in the next two years.
Wawa recently got approval to build a new store just north of the interchange in West Earl Township at 500 Burkholder Drive, next to 222 Dutch Lanes. At 6,557 square feet, it will be Wawa’s largest location in the county and will include a drive-thru pickup window for online orders.
The proposed store is less than one half mile from a Sheetz at 4179 Oregon Pike, which the chain has plans to tear down and replace with a store that is 6,132 square feet, about 20% bigger than the existing one. It’s currently one of only two Sheetz stores in Lancaster County without alcohol sales. West Earl Township prohibits the type of liquor licenses used by convenience stores to sell alcohol.
Once known for serving different areas of the state – Blair County-based Sheetz the west and Delaware County-based Wawa the east – the chains are rapidly expanding into each other’s territory.
In Lancaster County, Sheetz is the more established player with 19. Wawa has just five, but has proposed six more in the county in recent years. Nationally, Wawa had 1,180 stores at the end of 2025 compared to Sheetz’s 814, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.
West Earl won’t be the first time that the two chains have set up shop near each other in Lancaster County. Last year Sheetz opened a new location about 200 yards away from a Wawa on Lincoln Highway in East Lampeter Township.
Wawa President Brian Schaller told PennLive in 2024 that rumors of a one-time handshake agreement to avoid each other’s territory are not true, and the competition is a friendly one.
“We respect Sheetz immensely. We both do food and beverage. We do it differently. We have a great relationship with them. We love the Sheetz family,” Schaller was quoted as saying.
Lancaster County’s place in the rivalry reflects its mixed loyalty between the region’s pro sports teams, according to Blaze Cambruzzi, managing partner at TRUE Commercial Real Estate and an adjunct professor of real estate and finance at Millersville University. Many residents are loyal to teams from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Baltimore – which is represented in the convenience store wars by Royal Farms.
“Pittsburgh people have an attachment to Sheetz, Philly people go crazy for Wawa,” Cambruzzi told LNP | LancasterOnline. “We have three players and they are respective of the market that we have.”
Cambruzzi believes that the reason the companies didn’t compete directly until recently was a practical one. Wawa had to supply higher-priced "reformulated" gasoline because of air quality regulations in its mostly suburban territory, and that cost more at the pump. Sheetz served rural areas with less stringent air quality standards, and supplied conventional gas.
“Fuel has become more diverse in terms of logistics, and now it’s like, ‘let’s go,’” Cambruzzi said.
The Brownstown-Rothsville interchange is a logical choice for both chains, according to Cambruzzi. More than 50,000 cars travel that stretch of Route 222 daily, exits are more widely spaced than on other highways, and there are limited options for fast food near the interchange.
“I don’t think one will harm the other, they’ll both do incredibly well,” Cambruzzi said. “There’s so much traffic, so few exits, and this one is remarkably underserved in terms of convenience.”