By Heather Clower
The Parsons Advocate
The news of the Parsons Sheetz closing has taken the community by storm with much disappointment.
Manager for approximately eighteen years Jennifer Conrad said, “I felt the brunt of it today with seventeen employees and the community”. Signs were hung all over the store alerting customers to the unfortunate outcome that has come to the only 24-hour convenience store in Tucker County. This store has been a part of the area since 1990 when it first opened its doors.
Nicholas Ruffner, Public Relations Manager for Sheetz, stated, “Sheetz recently made the difficult decision to permanently close its store location in Parsons, WV, on September 26. However, all employees at the Parsons location have been offered employment at other nearby Sheetz locations”. Ruffner added, “We thank the residents of Parsons for their years of support and apologize for any inconvenience this closure may cause”. It was also noted that this store location is one of the older buildings and expanding or relocating were not possible, as Sheetz does not own the property or the building.
James Friel, Sheetz district manager was at the Parsons store on Thursday and reiterated what Ruffner had said. “All jobs are guaranteed and they will keep their tenure”, Friel said. “Was this decided overnight? No, this has been looked at for the last five years”, Friel added. “Some of us knew much longer but we couldn’t tell the employees because we needed them until the last day”, said Friel.
The doors will be locked on midnight the 26 of September, and the following day a team will come in and remove all merchandise and everything with the Sheetz brand, followed by a construction crew to remove the tanks and canopies. This will most definitely affect the day to day routine of the residents of our community. While we do have other gas stations, none of which are open twenty four hours per day, nor are any other convenience stores. Jim’s All Star will be the only other resource in Parsons, but unfortunately due to a recent incident they do not currently offer diesel. Work is in progress to restore that pump as soon as they can. Jim’s normal hours are Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. until 11 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Sunday 8 a.m. until 11 p.m., however there is talk to open earlier to accommodate the needs of the community.
