Sheetz's new gamer program entices players with rewards

For the Mid-Atlantic convenience shop, 'Freakz' is a term of endearment

I do not self-identify as a member of the memefied “Sheetz Freakz,” but my Pennsylvania Dutch roots keep me invested in the ups and downs of the convenience store chain. So when I received word that Sheetz was launching an “all-new gaming program,” I heeded the call to better understand what it meant for Sheetz to launch an “all-new gaming program.” This is my console wars.

For anyone west of Ohio: Before Sheetz started slinging Shmagel sandwiches and Shnack wraps at 3 a.m. to early-risers, the Mid-Atlantic staple was simply a family milk operation. In 1952, the Sheetz family pivoted from its Altoona, Pennsylvania dairy to convenience stores, where they formed a friendly rivalry with another east coast brand, Wawa, and set into motion a decades-long identity transformation: From milk to hot dogs to build-to-order hoagies and now… to gamers.

“There are creators out there who are gaming, and they're tagging Sheetz, whether it's during their marathon streams or stopping by our store on the way to that next release,” Sheetz’s EVP of marketing and supply chain Ryan Sheetz tells Polygon. “And we just want to connect with them in very authentic ways.”

To accomplish this, the company is launching @SheetzGaming, new social channels that, as of Dec. 8, will act as a home on X and TikTok for all those Sheetz Freakz — a phrase, to be clear, the company has fully embraced. (The Z in the family name does an unspeakable amount of Hardcore Gamer labor in this initiative.) According to Sheetz’s news release, followers of the channels can expect “future collabs, loot, and more” and they’ll "be able to share their best hits, favorite shnackz, Sheetz hauls, and earn some GG’z from the Sheetz team."

This is Sheetz’s biggest gaming push yet, says the exec, but not its first. Last year, the chain created a custom Fortnite island where players raced up a colossal digital hot dog. The Sheetz Run: Only Up! island became unexpectedly popular, and gave the team confidence that gamers might actually want them there.

Sheetz stresses the need for authenticity, aware that there’s some absurdity to a convenience chain spiritually aligning itself with Twitch chat. But after more than a decade of livestream activations, esports partnership with the Pittsburgh Knights, and the whole hot dog Fortnite mountain thing, there’s a hope that Sheetz can enter the digital space without stepping in it — a rarity for brands. To do so, Sheetz is also launching a creator-facing “Ambassadorz” program “where the freakiest of Freakz can Sheetz-maxx their love of the brand in-store and in-game.” Pop off, Sheetz.

What does Sheetz consider its go-to gamer fuel? Ryan recommends the mac and cheese bites. “That is my number one. And you gotta get the barbecue sauce for sure.” He also acknowledged that the stores will always be home to the good stuff. “As a central PA company, if we ever decided to not sell Mountain Dew, we would need to get checked out.”

Do all corporate roads lead to “gamer activation”? I ask Ryan if there’s pressure to bridge this cultural gap with consumers and tether a wholesome Pennsylvania brand to the wild west of gamer internet. And… of course, yes, there are stakes to the future of keeping young people in the loop and riding the line between hacky and authentic. “But it's all driven from a place of being customer-obsessed,” he says. “So we are constantly stressed about if we are showing up for our customers in the best possible way.”

All I can think is that Ryan’s Swiss ancestors really lucked out when they came to America and propped an entire business on top of a Z that practically comes pre-installed with RGB lighting. Sheetz fans, hungry for aggressively customizable food items and running with the gamer-coded name, called themselves Freakz and the corporation has absorbed it into official canon, like a convenience-store ouroboros.

The only question left is whether this turns Sheetz-Wawa into the Xbox-vs.-PlayStation for the sandwich generation. Ryan plays coy, but admits he enjoys the rivalry energy. “What a privilege that people care enough to advocate for us,” he said. “If our Sheetz Freakz take us to a place where they want to talk about the rivalry […] there are a lot of fun ways to do that.”