I’m familiar with Sheetz, having been in many of their stores in multiple states (especially in my road warrior days prior to 2017) and have always been impressed with the friendliness of employees—very consistent across the board. Your essay helps explain why. Thank you.
I used to be more of Wawa guy. However Sheets has earned my respect. They really have the better restrooms compared to Wawa and keep them clean. Based on this essay I think I would have no problem recommending individuals to consider working for Sheets.
I have to admit, there aren’t any Wawa’s where I am but I’ve heard they are similar! I’d be curious to know if they have these specific elements behind the scenes.
Glad to know you’ve had good experiences at Sheetz!
Thank you for a great article. I started work as an apprentice in an engineering company that promoted from within. Every senior manager was an ex apprentice and it was a very successful business. Many years later, the worst kind of external manager were brought in.."Management Consultants". ..They offshored pretty much everything except sales . Where the factory once stood is now a housing estate.
Nicely done, Brandon. I teach business associations, and so what works for a company, particularly structural things, is always interesting. A few comments.
1) This is the kind of business, sort of modular, that can be gradually scaled without a lot of finance at once, e.g., through an IPO or major PE investment. So the family can build from within, hire from within, etc., without ceding much control. It's classic German "Mittelstand" structure, which has great advantages. But not all kinds of business, and it has vulnerabilities to scale.
2) Employee ownership is great, for the reasons you say. BUT there is a downside. Employees are effectively double invested, with their job and whatever ownership interests they have. Here it just seems to be bonuses, like, say, an investment bank. But when Enron blew up, lots of low level employees lost not only their jobs, but also their retirement savings, which were disproportionately invested in Enron stock. Again, just something to think about.k
But my bigger point would be it's great for the Savage Collective to think about ways to humanize the larger institutions that a complex society also needs, and in which many people work.
Appreciate these thoughts, David, and for reading. I'm unfamiliar with that German term but will look it up. I definitely agree that employee ownership can be a mixed bag. In this particularly instance it has served both Sheetz and its employees well, but I have thought about those downsides as well.
Would love to hear more of your thoughts and knowledge on different business associations sometime.
The Savage Collective does not want to run the risk of just promoting a sort 100 years ago economy. Maybe where localism is stronger and globalism has become weak, sure, but our focus is actual, real, everyday working Americans. How can *their* lives be made better? Glad this particular article can contribute to that discussion.
"Mittlestand" companies stand/exist in the "middle" -- neither really big nor really small. Often over a hundred years old, often ship world wide, some sort of specialized niche. Tools, or musical instruments, or what have you.
You might be interested in this Between Citizen and State. It's an explanation of what we teach in law schools, which is not the same thing as the operations of a particular business like Sheetz. That said, it gives you a conceptual framework, in fact the conceptual frameworks used by US law, which have their blind spots but also are powerful articulations, informing policy, etc.
Love the "mittlestand" principle. Seems like currently the best option that benefits workers--enough resources to treat them well, not so big that faceless bureaucracy consumes them.
Great article. Sheetz hasn't made it to Georgia yet, though I have stopped in several stores on my PA trips. Funding scale is the single biggest challenge for any company. It is far easier starting with one store, relatively small investment, and leveraging earnings into growth. Harder to do that with a steel mill, chemical plant or refinery. Government regulation has made it infinitely more difficult since 1953.
No answers to that puzzle but the advantage of shared interest can't be overstated. In the large industrial world, Nucor and Steel Dynamics have been successful with that model.
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for reading!
Nice to see the idea of "common ownership" and "dignity of employees" making the rounds again from the 1970s.
Yes. Makes all the difference.
It's honestly astounding that the "order a decent sandwich from the pump" business model has not taken off nationwide.
I’m familiar with Sheetz, having been in many of their stores in multiple states (especially in my road warrior days prior to 2017) and have always been impressed with the friendliness of employees—very consistent across the board. Your essay helps explain why. Thank you.
Honestly, they’ve only gotten more impressive to me since being on the inside
I used to be more of Wawa guy. However Sheets has earned my respect. They really have the better restrooms compared to Wawa and keep them clean. Based on this essay I think I would have no problem recommending individuals to consider working for Sheets.
I have to admit, there aren’t any Wawa’s where I am but I’ve heard they are similar! I’d be curious to know if they have these specific elements behind the scenes.
Glad to know you’ve had good experiences at Sheetz!
Thank you for a great article. I started work as an apprentice in an engineering company that promoted from within. Every senior manager was an ex apprentice and it was a very successful business. Many years later, the worst kind of external manager were brought in.."Management Consultants". ..They offshored pretty much everything except sales . Where the factory once stood is now a housing estate.
Seems to be a common thread unfortunately! Thanks for reading!
Nicely done, Brandon. I teach business associations, and so what works for a company, particularly structural things, is always interesting. A few comments.
1) This is the kind of business, sort of modular, that can be gradually scaled without a lot of finance at once, e.g., through an IPO or major PE investment. So the family can build from within, hire from within, etc., without ceding much control. It's classic German "Mittelstand" structure, which has great advantages. But not all kinds of business, and it has vulnerabilities to scale.
2) Employee ownership is great, for the reasons you say. BUT there is a downside. Employees are effectively double invested, with their job and whatever ownership interests they have. Here it just seems to be bonuses, like, say, an investment bank. But when Enron blew up, lots of low level employees lost not only their jobs, but also their retirement savings, which were disproportionately invested in Enron stock. Again, just something to think about.k
But my bigger point would be it's great for the Savage Collective to think about ways to humanize the larger institutions that a complex society also needs, and in which many people work.
Keep up the good work!
Appreciate these thoughts, David, and for reading. I'm unfamiliar with that German term but will look it up. I definitely agree that employee ownership can be a mixed bag. In this particularly instance it has served both Sheetz and its employees well, but I have thought about those downsides as well.
Would love to hear more of your thoughts and knowledge on different business associations sometime.
The Savage Collective does not want to run the risk of just promoting a sort 100 years ago economy. Maybe where localism is stronger and globalism has become weak, sure, but our focus is actual, real, everyday working Americans. How can *their* lives be made better? Glad this particular article can contribute to that discussion.
"Mittlestand" companies stand/exist in the "middle" -- neither really big nor really small. Often over a hundred years old, often ship world wide, some sort of specialized niche. Tools, or musical instruments, or what have you.
You might be interested in this Between Citizen and State. It's an explanation of what we teach in law schools, which is not the same thing as the operations of a particular business like Sheetz. That said, it gives you a conceptual framework, in fact the conceptual frameworks used by US law, which have their blind spots but also are powerful articulations, informing policy, etc.
https://www.davidawestbrook.com/between-citizen-and-state.html
Love the "mittlestand" principle. Seems like currently the best option that benefits workers--enough resources to treat them well, not so big that faceless bureaucracy consumes them.
Great article. Sheetz hasn't made it to Georgia yet, though I have stopped in several stores on my PA trips. Funding scale is the single biggest challenge for any company. It is far easier starting with one store, relatively small investment, and leveraging earnings into growth. Harder to do that with a steel mill, chemical plant or refinery. Government regulation has made it infinitely more difficult since 1953.
No answers to that puzzle but the advantage of shared interest can't be overstated. In the large industrial world, Nucor and Steel Dynamics have been successful with that model.
Definitely agree that it was easier to get the ball rolling decades ago.
Thanks for that info. I’m going to look them up. Thanks for reading!