Wawa (company) facts for kids
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A Wawa gas station in Skippack, Pennsylvania
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| Private | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 16, 1964 |
| Founder | Grahame Wood |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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1,032 (2023) |
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Area served
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Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. Planned: Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia Former: New York and Connecticut |
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Key people
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Chris Gheysens (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Revenue |  US$13 billion (2020) |
| US$118 million (2011) |
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| Total assets | US$1.57 billion (2011) |
| Owner |
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Number of employees
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37,000 (2020) |
Wawa, Inc. is a popular chain of convenience stores and gas stations. It started in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and now has locations along the East Coast of the United States. You can find Wawa stores in states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida. They have also expanded into Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, and Indiana.
Wawa's main office is in the Wawa area of Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. This is part of the larger Philadelphia region. As of 2008, Wawa was the biggest convenience store chain in the Philadelphia area. It was also the third-largest food seller there.
Contents
Wawa's Story: From Dairy to Stores
The Wawa business began a long time ago, in 1803, as a place that made iron. Later, in 1890, a man named George Wood started the Wawa Dairy Farm in Pennsylvania. He brought special cows from an island called Guernsey. He also bought a lot of land, about 1,000 acres, in the Chester Heights area. This land later became known as Wawa.
Back then, milk was not always safe to drink because it wasn't pasteurized. This meant many children got sick from raw milk. George Wood made sure his milk was very clean and safe. Doctors even said it was good to drink. This helped Wawa Dairy become very popular.
In the 1920s, more and more people wanted dairy products. Wawa grew quickly and delivered milk right to people's homes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Their slogan was "Buy Health by the Bottle."
How Wawa Stores Started
By the 1960s, people started buying milk from stores instead of having it delivered. To keep up with this change, Wawa decided to open its own stores. On April 16, 1964, George Wood's grandson, Grahame Wood, opened the very first Wawa Food Market. It was located in Folsom, Pennsylvania.
This first store stayed open for many years, until June 17, 2016. Then, a new, bigger Wawa store opened nearby. A parade was even held to celebrate the move from the old store to the new one!
Wawa Food Markets were part of a new idea called "convenience stores." They opened earlier and closed later than regular supermarkets. Besides milk, they sold other foods, drinks, and items from the Wawa dairy.
Employees Own a Piece of Wawa
In 1977, Wawa started sharing its ownership with its employees. This was done through plans that shared the company's profits. In 1992, Wawa created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This means employees get a share of the company's stock each year.
Because Wawa is a private company, its stock value is checked regularly to make sure the ESOP is fair. Today, employees own more than 40% of Wawa's stock. This means they have a big stake in the company's success!
About the Company
Wawa's Name and Goose Logo
The name "Wawa" comes from the area in Pennsylvania where the company's first milk plant and main office are located. The town name "Wawa" comes from an Ojibwe word, we'we. This word means "snow goose."
Even though the name means "snow goose," Wawa's logo shows a Canada goose flying. This goose is a well-known symbol for the company. Wawa even has a mascot named Wally Goose. He is a friendly Canada goose who wears a Wawa shirt and appears at store openings and in ads.
Who Leads Wawa
The current CEO of Wawa is Chris Gheysens. He became CEO in January 2013. Richard "Dick" Wood Jr. is the chairman of the company's board of directors. Many members of the Wood family are still involved in the company.
Even though it's a family-run business, Wawa employees own about half of the company. More than 40% of this is through the employee stock-ownership program.
Wawa's Locations and Size
In 2015, Forbes magazine listed Wawa as the 34th largest private company. It had total earnings of $9.68 billion. As of 2016, Wawa had over 22,000 employees and more than 720 stores. Over 450 of these stores also sold gasoline.
As of 1989, Wawa Inc. and the Wood family owned about 725 acres of land in Pennsylvania. This land included the company's main office, the Wawa dairy farm, and J.T. Farms. Wawa still owns the 225-acre J.T. Farms, even though it leases it out. They like to keep it for the "ambiance."
Wawa's Main Office
Wawa's main office, also called "Red Roof," is in the Wawa area of Chester Heights, Pennsylvania. It's located along Baltimore Pike. About 300 employees work at the headquarters. The town of Chester Heights gets most of its local tax money from Wawa employees.
What Wawa Offers
Wawa stores sell many common convenience store items like chips, drinks, and snacks. They also have their own brands of iced tea, orange juice, and milk. You can find Coca-Cola Freestyle soda fountains there too.
Two of Wawa's most famous products are its wide variety of coffee and its made-to-order hoagies. Wawa also sells hot breakfast items, like the popular "Sizzli." They have a full deli where you can order sandwiches, hot sides, and drinks using a computer touch-screen.
In 2020, Wawa started trying out new dinner items at some locations. These included burgers, waffle fries, and chicken sandwiches. They also tested pasta and rotisserie chicken. In 2023, Wawa began selling pizza during dinner hours at some stores, with plans to offer it at all locations. The pizza comes in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes with different toppings.
The "Gobbler," Wawa's special Thanksgiving-themed hoagie, is very popular. Philadelphia magazine even ranked it as the best Wawa sandwich in 2022.
Wawa Store Locations
Wawa has stores in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.. They are also planning to open stores in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Wawa used to have stores in New York and Connecticut. However, in the late 1990s, they decided to leave those areas because there was too much competition. Many of these old stores were sold and changed names, but you can still recognize their unique Wawa design.
Wawa has been expanding a lot. In July 2012, Wawa opened its first store in Orlando, Florida. By the end of 2015, they had more than 70 locations in Florida. As of October 2020, Wawa had over 900 locations across many states.
Unique Store Designs
In some Jersey Shore towns, Wawa designs its stores to fit the local style. For example, the Wawa in Cape May has a Victorian theme. The store in Wildwood looks like it's from the 1950s. The Wawa near Princeton University became famous on TikTok in 2023 for its simple and pleasing design.
Wawa opened its largest store at the time in Washington, D.C. in December 2017. In December 2018, Wawa opened an even bigger store in Center City, Philadelphia. This store is 11,500 square feet and has a living plant wall, large digital screens, and comfy seating.
In December 2020, Wawa opened its first drive-thru at a store with a gas station in Westampton, New Jersey. In January 2021, they opened their first drive-thru only location in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Recent Expansions
In 2022, Wawa announced plans to expand into North Carolina by 2024. Their first North Carolina store opened in Kill Devil Hills on May 16, 2024. They also planned to open stores in the Florida Panhandle and Mobile, Alabama in 2024. The first Alabama store opened in Fairhope on April 25, 2024.
Wawa is also expanding into the Nashville area in Tennessee, with the first store opening in 2025. They plan to open up to 40 stores there. In 2022, Wawa announced plans to open stores in South Central Pennsylvania and Harrisburg. In December 2022, Wawa announced expansion into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio after 2025.
The first Ohio location was approved in 2023 in Liberty Township, near Cincinnati. Up to 40 Kentucky locations are planned. Wawa also plans to expand into West Virginia, with a groundbreaking ceremony held in Inwood on August 14, 2024.
Wawa opened its first Indiana location in Daleville on May 15, 2025. Other Indiana stores in Noblesville and Clarksville followed later in May 2025. In late 2024, Wawa started building its first two Kentucky stores in Louisville and Nicholasville. The first Kentucky store opened in Louisville on July 24, 2025.
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An older Wawa in Sewell, New Jersey
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A retro-styled Wawa in Wildwood, New Jersey
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A Wawa in Orlando, Florida on opening day
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The largest Wawa store, at 6th Street and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Location in the Farragut Square neighborhood of downtown Washington, D.C.
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Wawa Food Market in Williamsburg, Virginia across from College of William & Mary. This was the first location built on the Virginia Peninsula.
Wawa's Competitors
Wawa often competes with other convenience store chains. One of its main rivals is Sheetz, another company that started in Pennsylvania. People in Pennsylvania often talk about a "rivalry" between Wawa and Sheetz. However, the two companies actually have a friendly relationship.
Wawa and Sheetz usually operate in different parts of Pennsylvania, so they don't often compete directly. But in Virginia, both chains have stores in the Richmond and Northern Virginia areas. As Wawa expands into South Central Pennsylvania and North Carolina, there will be more direct competition. Other competitors include Royal Farms in the Mid-Atlantic states.
According to a survey in October 2024, Wawa received higher scores for customer satisfaction compared to Sheetz.
Data Security Incident
On December 20, 2019, Wawa announced that it had found harmful software on its payment systems. This software affected every Wawa location. The problem was discovered and fixed by December 12, 2019. It affected about 34 million payment cards.
On July 26, 2022, the Pennsylvania Attorney General announced that Wawa had reached an $8 million agreement to resolve the data security incident.
Why Wawa is So Popular
Wawa is very popular in the Greater Philadelphia area. Some people even say it has a "cult following." This popularity comes from Wawa's focus on good service and creating a friendly community feeling.
People feel a strong connection to Wawa, partly because of its unique name and the famous Canada goose logo. Wawa's CEO, Chris Gheysens, believes this popularity comes from the company's careful, steady growth. He compares it to other popular stores like In-N-Out Burger that also grew slowly and built a strong fan base.
See also
In Spanish: Wawa Food Market para niños
