Sheetz opens first Michigan location. People waited hours in line for it.

Romulus — Customers waited outside for several hours Tuesday morning to see a new 24/7 convenience store open.

Sheetz, a Pennsylvania-based franchise, opened its first Michigan location at 33380 Wick Road for customers like Mike Jacobs of Van Buren Township, who got to the new gas station around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday — over two hours before it opened to serve the public.

"I don't know much about Sheetz but I know that they promise they're going to be open 365 24/7. I understand that their food is pretty good," Jacobs, 65, said. "It's right off the expressway. I pass this way all the time. It should be a good thing for the community."

Jacobs said he saw the store being built for months and couldn't wait to participate in its grand opening to get free giveaways like gas cards, cookies and more.

"This store will probably be the anchor for a lot of the other businesses that are coming because all of these places were vacant lots," he said. Other shoppers who came out Tuesday said they hoped the store, which is about five miles from Detroit Metro Airport, would spur development around it.

The store was fully stocked with snacks, made-to-order fast food, donuts and more. Sheetz also sells ice cream and specialty coffee drinks, subs, sandwiches, salads, pizza, milkshakes and smoothies, with indoor and outdoor dining options and a drive-thru.

Robert Pawlowski, 19, of Southgate was showing his friend Matt Scruggs, 21, of Wyandotte and others how to order and check out at the new store as a "long-time Sheetz fan."

"I've usually stopped at Sheetz stores near the Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina area ... I grew up going to Sheetz with my family ... this is the one place we would go to," he said, adding that he was disappointed the chain had no locations in Michigan.

"(Now) I'm going to have somewhere I can go and have free WiFi, somewhere I can talk with folks, meet new people," Pawlowski said. He got to the store around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and claims he was the first to camp out for the opening.

"It's just an absolute honor to be here on opening day and witness history in the making. I wasn't going to miss this place when it first opened. There's more locations coming to Michigan and I'm going to be around them," he said.

Scruggs said he loves the culture of Sheetz and that he's been waiting almost three years for it to come to the Great Lakes State. "There (was) nothing quite like a Sheetz in Michigan ... I had to come out for the first one," he said.

The only downside Becky Lasecki, 53, of Farmington Hills could see was the lack of electric vehicle charging stations, especially since she drives a Chevy Volt.

"I don't need any gas, so there's no draw here for me. If I were on a road trip I wouldn't stop at Sheetz, I'd stop somewhere to charge up and then I'd get something to eat there," she said.

The company previously announced other locations it plans to operate next in Metro Detroit: two in Taylor, plus others in Macomb, Warren and Chesterfield Township.

The company announced plans to expand into Michigan in 2022. Sheetz's president and CEO, Travis Sheetz, previously told The Detroit News that the company plans to open up to 60 locations in Michigan in the next five to six years, and is establishing an office in Farmington Hills.

Sheetz started in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It now has more than 26,000 employees and over 740 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina, according to a news release.