Max and Erma's to be demolished for Sheetz gas station

DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) -- A shuttered central Ohio Max and Erma's restaurant is set to be bulldozed to make way for a Sheetz location.

The convenience store and gas station chain is taking over the former restaurant's site at 7480 Sawmill Road in Dublin, according to a permit under review by the city of Columbus. Max and Erma's Montana-based owner, Glacier Restaurant Group, closed the Sawmill Road location and the brand's other Dublin restaurant at 411 Metro Place North in 2020.

A series of other Max and Erma's closings have decreased the concept to just one central Ohio restaurant at 2703 Memorial Drive in Lancaster. Only two other Max and Erma's remain in Ohio, one inside Dayton International Airport and another in Middleburg Heights outside of Cleveland.

The Sheetz location will add to the chain's more than 720 convenience stores and gas stations across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. Sheetz announced its expansion into central Ohio in 2019, opening the first location in Delaware in 2021. Since then, the chain has ballooned to nearly 100 Ohio locations and announced plans in March to hire nearly 430 more employees in the Buckeye State.

Sheetz's expansion has come ahead of competitive convenience store and gas station chain Wawa's planned Ohio stores. Wawa is launching its first stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky after 2025, with timeframes and ranges for the number of stores by state yet to be announced.

The Sawmill Road restaurant is adding to the Rolodex of Max and Erma's locations in central Ohio bulldozed for a Sheetz. Max and Erma's at 4279 Cemetery Road in Hilliard was demolished in 2021 after the restaurant had been closed for more than a year, with the site now home to a Sheetz.

The gas station also purchased the site of Woody’s Wing House at 161 E. Campus View Boulevard for $3,750,000 last year, Franklin County auditor's office records show. Rezoned last fall to house a gas station, the two-acre site was also home to a former Champps restaurant and began operating as a Woody’s location in 2018.

Max and Erma's locations are not the only central Ohio restaurants making way for new quick-service development, including the demolition of three eateries for new Chick-fil-A eateries. One is Tee Jaye's Country Place at 4910 N. High St. where construction is underway, preserving the site's 20th-century sign that has received a facelift with Chick-fil-A branding.

Mackenzie River, a shuttered central Ohio restaurant that replaced Max and Erma's, auctioned off its furniture last month ahead of the building’s demolition to make room for a new Chick-fil-A. The restaurant launched in 2016 and was also owned by Glacier after the restaurant group purchased all Max and Erma’s locations and transformed several into Mackenzie River eateries.

Buca di Beppo at 60 E. Wilson Bridge Road in Worthington is also expected to be demolished, but Chick-fil-A has yet to formally acquire the property. The Italian restaurant is currently open given construction is unlikely to begin before 2026.