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WARREN — The site of a new gas station and convenience store has a bit of history.
The Victory Inn, a bar and restaurant, is set to be demolished for a new Sheetz location. In 2026, the business on the corner of 12 Mile and Mound roads would’ve celebrated its 80th anniversary.
Victory Inn owner Beverly Suida offered “no comment” when asked about Sheetz coming to the location for this article. The new Sheetz will also replace Skip’s Auto Repair on the corner.
The Warren Planning Commission unanimously approved the Sheetz development last August. According to a previous Warren Weekly article, Suida said the Sheetz could not move in until 2027.
“I just want the record to reflect that an actual completed and closed sale of the Victory Inn property cannot happen any sooner than Aug. 1, 2027,” Suida said at the meeting.
“The Victory Inn is not closing and will continue to be open and operating as usual,” Suida added.
Sheetz, through an email from its public relations firm Planit, stated the location is set to open sometime in 2026.
Another Sheetz on the horizon
Whenever it does in fact open, it won’t be the only Sheetz coming to Warren.
Another Sheetz will open at the former Pampa Lanes location on the corner of Van Dyke and Murthum avenues. The bowling alley had been vacant before it caught fire in 2019. The current Pampa structure was built in 1963. It originally opened on the site in 1960 before it was destroyed by fire in 1962.
Approval of that new Sheetz was announced in a Feb. 5 press release by the company. The company also announced three other approved stores in the area including 45075 North Gratiot Ave. in Macomb Township, 29455 Grand River Ave. in Farmington Hills and 39471 West 12 Mile Road in Novi.
Sheetz has been making inroads in Michigan since last year. Its first location in Romulus broke ground March 14, 2024. According to a Sheetz press release, the chain is set to open 50-60 locations in southeastern Michigan in the next 5-6 years. Thirteen locations will begin construction in 2025-26. The chain was founded in 1952 by Bob Sheetz and has expanded across the country with over 600 locations.
David Bruckelmeyer, the representative for Sheetz at the August Warren Planning Commission meeting, praised the food, security and work environment the company provides.
“Something that sets us apart is Sheetz has an incredible culture and that’s spoken to by Sheetz being named to Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ nine years running,” Bruckelmeyer said. “Along with that, we’ve grown to offer 30 to 35 positions per location.
Those include preferably full-time positions that offer benefits, paid time off, 401(k), the entire package, so it’s really a premium offering to our employees.”
Bruckelmeyer did not respond for comment on this story at press time.
At the August meeting, Sharkey Haddad from the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce outlined concerns that the chamber had with the development. Bruckelmeyer said, at the meeting, that the company was working with the chamber to address the issues.
The chamber provided an update in a Feb. 10 statement. Lingering issues after the meeting include getting a report about potential increased crime from the 24-hour development; conflicts with the city’s master plan; transparency about a possible third location at 12 Mile Road and Dequindre Road in Warren; and ignoring citizen opposition to another 24-hour gas station.
“We feel none of these areas has been adequately addressed, if at all, as we remain adamant that competition is fine as long as there is a level playing field, not ‘mom and pops’ taking on a multi-billion-dollar company,” the statement reads.
The controversy at the Warren site is not unique.
A Sheetz location in downtown Fraser drew widespread criticism from the community. Fraser’s City Council’s 2024 conditional rezoning for Sheetz set in motion the demolition of the State Bank of Fraser building. The bank building, at its final location, had roots in the community stretching back to 1930. The new Sheetz will be the third gas station at the corner of Utica and 14 Mile roads.
The Madison Heights City Council blocked the business from coming to the city following public outcry last year.
The Eastpointe City Council approved, in a 3-1 vote, a special land use permit to move a Sheetz location ahead at a meeting on Aug. 20, 2024, but, according to a C & G Newspapers article about the meeting, the project was met with scrutiny by both council members and the public.
The proliferation of Sheetz in metro Detroit is not without its fans.
One impassioned supporter from the Fraser debate was resident Donald Olszewski. In the case of the former bank building in Fraser, he urged residents to move past nostalgia.
“Sheetz are clean, spacious, new and well-maintained,” Olszewski said at an April 25 open house hosted by Sheetz in Fraser. “I have nothing bad to say about them.”
Sheetz also makes overtures to the communities it operates in. Its charity, Sheetz for the Kidz, works to provide Christmas presents for kids in need. The company also supports the Special Olympics. According to its website, it has raised $2.5 million for the organization since 1991.
At the August Warren Planning Commission meeting, resident Michael Brzoska raised concerns about discriminatory hiring practices at the company. This stems from a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discriminatory hiring practices against Sheetz last April. The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office.
The EEOC, in a statement at the time, claimed Sheetz screened applicants for records of criminal conviction along racial lines. The EEOC claims this disproportionately impacted Black, Native American and multiracial applicants in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“We take these allegations seriously. We have attempted to work with the EEOC for nearly eight years to find common ground and resolve this dispute. We will address the claims in Court when the time comes,” Nick Ruffner, public relations manager for Sheetz, said in a statement at the time.
