A new Sheetz gas station and convenience store opens Thursday, October 22, at 4281 Kent Road in Stow, bringing the first new business to the front of the former Stow-Glen Retirement Village property and giving Kent Road drivers a new 24-hour stop for fuel, food and coffee in Summit County.
The store includes a 6,200-square-foot building and six fuel pumps on the front western part of the former Stow-Glen site, near Kent Road. It is Sheetz’s second location in Stow, joining the existing store on Steels Corners Road, and the chain’s 10th location in Summit County. Doors open to the public at 8 a.m. Thursday, and customers at the new store will get free self-serve coffee and soda for the entire opening day.
A grand opening celebration follows on Friday, October 23, starting at 9 a.m. outside the store, with residents, representatives from local nonprofits and elected officials expected to attend. Sheetz will offer giveaways during the event, including $250 in Sheetz gift cards and a Free Sheetz for a Year prize, and a ceremonial ribbon cutting is set for 10:45 a.m. Free self-serve coffee and soda will also be offered during the celebration, from 9 to 11 a.m.
The opening also carries a charitable component for the Akron-Canton area. During the October 23 celebration, Sheetz will present a $2,500 donation to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and a separate $2,500 check to the Special Olympics of Ohio. Customers who attend the grand opening are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for the food bank, and donors will receive a Sheetz branded bag, limited to one per customer while supplies last between 9 and 11 a.m.
The Kent Road opening marks a new chapter for a familiar Stow property. Stow-Glen Retirement Village closed in October 2021 after 37 years because of financial difficulties, leaving a large, prominent site vacant along one of the city’s main commercial corridors. Redevelopment has moved in stages since then, and the Sheetz is described as one of the first businesses to open on the former property.
Part of that redevelopment is already in place next door. Evergreen Park of Stow, an apartment complex at 4287 Kent Road, opened in September 2025 in two remodeled buildings that formerly held assisted-living units, putting residents within walking distance of the new store and the other businesses planned for the corridor.
More openings are expected nearby in the coming months. Dutch Bros Coffee plans a drive-thru on the corridor, Fitworks is expected to move in December from the Stow-Kent Shopping Center into a new 15,000-square-foot building on the old property, a 2,741-square-foot Panda Express under construction nearby is expected to open before the end of the year, and site plans also show a Chick-fil-A next to the Sheetz. Sheetz operates more than 850 stores across seven states, including more than 140 in Ohio, all open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY