ROUND 4: The $20 Test.

It was a favorite game played between me and my roommates at Penn State and the rules were simple and singular: determine who could accumulate the most Sheetz MTO or Wawa ToGo per visit based on weight with the winner being the owner of the order that tipped the scale the most (the winner had to eat the contents of their bag to actually achieve victory).

However, that game may not be the best metric when trying compare between the Pennsylvania born Sheetz with the New Jersey native Pennsylvania farm-founded Wawa EDIT THANKS TO BETH: “From Wikipedia: In the early 19th century Richard D. Wood ran a store in Greenwich, New Jersey selling items from his farming. It was 1803 when David Wood became a part owner of a furnace that sold stove plates through the firm of Smith and Wood. About a century later George Wood moved to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is here that he started to operate the Wawa Dairy Farm…” Instead we will see what around $20 bucks can get you at each location:

Wawa takes a leave from this battle earlier on. Though gas prices are generally the same at each establishment, and costs for regular retail merchandise and brand-name foods are pretty similiar, the prepared foods and self-serve drink prices are much better at Sheetz. Perhaps you are paying for higher quality at Wawa and so you’d expect to pay a bit more, but you can bet that your 20 bucks will get you a much heavier bag at Sheetz.

Sheetz is the king of sub 2-dollar menu items (and equally low-priced cigarettes). They feature 4 dollar footlong subs and dirt cheap loaded hot dogs. Drink promotions allow you to get ANY size coffee or softdrink at a single price point, usually around a dollar.

Wawa long held claim to “NO FEES” ATM machines. It was an unheard of practice when I first saw it (especially compared to $7.50 fees you see on Bourbon Street) but Sheetz has followed suit and now offers the same fee-free ATM machines at their locations.

When you are a Wawa location, you can charge a bit more since you are offering mini-veggie trays and hummus cups. But careful of that impulse filled soft-pretzel buy you might make while checking out, it could set you back another three bucks. Sheetz won’t charge you that - but that’s because they have nothing as remotely appetizing in the check out line. For this round its the mighty dollar and what you can get for it that carries the day and who can say no to a two dollar Meatball Sub with parmesan cheese, pickles, cooked onions and peppers, olives, and some BBQ sauce?

RESULT: Sheetz is the heavier hitter and gives you more bang for your buck – it’s a the clear winner of this round.

Click to Continue to Tomorrow’s Round: Everything else (not just on the shelves)