HARRISBURG – Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz is on the front lines of the fight to privatize liquor, reports ABC 27 News.

Should the state legislature move forward with plans to privatize the Pennsylvania liquor system, Sheetz is ready to restock walk-in coolers with beer and possibly wine, which now contain sodas.

But during a public hearing last week, Sheetz was the target of one state senator during a public hearing, much to the dismay of Louie Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing, who was also attending the hearing.

The news source writes that Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley boasted that Sheetz and other retailers “stand ready to create jobs” if given the opportunity under privatization. However, state Sen. Jim Ferlo more than disagreed: 

"The notion that you're gonna kill all these family sustaining jobs and that somehow people are gonna go out and work for minimum wage at a damn Sheetz, I think, is outrageous," Ferlo said.

Louie Sheetz told the news source that Ferlo’s comment simply was not true. Sheetz said every one of the retailer’s 9,000 employees within Pennsylvania earns more than minimum wage. “[I]t offended me only from a standpoint that he didn't have his fact right,” Sheetz said.

Dale Paige, a Sheetz customer, also took offense to Ferlo’s rant: "It's disrespectful. A job is a job, right?" she told the news source, adding, "You're a hard-working person ... it's not something I would've said, let's put it that way."

Ferlo, however, wasn’t done.

"Let's be honest about Sheetz and all these other convenience stores. Yes, they're a reality whether I like it or not," he said. "They rip people off every day. They charge outrageous prices, they have smaller products. They're an economic reality." 

Sheetz customer Jim Massey f

ound Ferlo's comments distasteful: "To say something like that about a business in Pennsylvania seems kind of brazen and bold because they serve a purpose and that purpose is convenience," he told the news source. 

ABC 27 contacted Ferlo for comment. He did not apologize for his comments about Sheetz but did say he is "very passionate and concerned about the issue of liquor privatization and the workers whose jobs are threatened by the governor's proposal." 

"I firmly believe that liquor privatization will lead to job loss, higher prices, and less selection for consumers," he added. "My comments at this week's hearing regarding convenience stores were meant to generally refer to what I believe will happen if there is a proliferation of alcohol sales, which is a certain result of the governor's plan."

Sheetz, with 226 stores in Pennsylvania, hopes to sell beer and wine should the liquor privatization proposal go through. The state Senate is expected to offer its plan in the coming weeks.