PITTSBURGH – No longer is a gas station just a place to stop in for a fill up and a soft drink — today’s convenience stores in Pittsburgh are competitive and exceeding consumer demand.

CBS Pittsburgh reports that Sheetz, which “set the bar on convenience store extravagance,” is seeing fellow retailers such as Giant Eagle’s GetGo stores upping their game with “attractive convenience stores with made-to-order salads, burgers and sandwiches.”

Louie Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing of the Altoona-based company, says that he welcomes the competition. “We are pleased to see other retailers like GetGo — and they do a very nice job — making serious efforts into fresh prepared foods and beverages. We need as an industry to lift the old reputation that convenience stores sell nothing but day-old products or un-fresh products,” he told the news source. 

With 187 GetGo locations in the Pittsburgh area, Sheetz is quickly expanding into the market, but “where they’ll expand next is a closely held secret,” writes the news source.

“There are an awful lot of sites in the works in southwestern Pennsylvania, in the Pittsburgh market, and we’re anxious to get more open,” said Sheetz.