Dive Brief:
- Sheetz, an Altoona, Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain, announced it has appointed former CEO Joe Sheetz chairman of its board of directors, effective immediately, according to an emailed press release.
- Joe Sheetz has deep knowledge of the inner workings of the family-owned chain, the company said. He served as CEO and president from 2013 to 2018, then as CEO from 2018 to 2021. Joe Sheetz was the board’s executive vice chairman until this new change.
- His duties as chairman of the board are focused on overseeing the board’s actions relating to “corporate governance and risk, executive appointments and compensation, and long-term planning.”
Dive Insight:
This board change comes in the middle of Sheetz’s expansion into Michigan, its first new state in two decades. The appointment also comes a few weeks after Sheetz pulled the plug on a controversial dental hygiene policy.
While Sheetz is a private company, the board still exists to guide the chain’s long-term vision and hold the company’s leadership accountable for growing the business and keeping shareholders’ interests in mind.
The board includes a combination of Sheetz family members and outside parties. Joe Sheetz succeeds his cousin Stan, who held the chairman role from October 2013 until this month. Before Stan’s appointment, the chairman position was held by Steve Sheetz, Joe’s uncle, starting in October 1995. Stan Sheetz will remain on the board after this change.
“It takes devoted family members and talented employees who believe in our mission to achieve the level of success we strive for,” said Travis Sheetz, the company’s president and CEO. “This change in leadership is vital to sustain both the growth of this business and our family legacy.”
Sheetz operates a network of more than 670 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina that are open 24 hours a day. The company has remained in its namesake family since its founding in 1952, when Bob Sheetz bought a dairy farm from his father.
