WAWA, Pa. -- Wawa Inc. said that the seven stores still closed due to Hurricane Sandy's impact will reopen by spring of this year. Wawa teams have been working to reopen these stores, completely renovating and rebuilding them in some cases, and most will now feature Wawa's newest design prototype.
Wawa said at the time that it had to close 157 stores because of the late-Oct. 2012 storm.
The company said that it expects all of these seven locations to resume operations by the end of March 2013, with stores beginning to reopen by the end of January.
Projected Reopening Dates:
- Normandy Beach, N.J. (Jan. 29).
- Ocean City, N.J. (Feb. 28).
- Avalon, N.J. (March 7).
- Margate, N.J. (March 14).
- Long Beach, N.J. (early March).
- Ship Bottom, N.J. (mid-March).
- Sayerville, N.J. (permitting in progress; construction to begin by Jan. 25, with estimated opening in mid-to-late March).
"A cross-functional team at Wawa has been working to get the Hurricane Sandy-impacted stores up and running as soon as possible," said Sal Mattera, vice president of store operations. "From ordering new equipment to sourcing local contractors to obtaining the necessary permits to make the renovations happen, our team has been focused on getting the remodels started and our stores reopened."
In addition to reopening, most of the impacted stores will receive new features and designs incorporated into their renovations. The upgraded features include:
- New foodservice layout and foodservice innovations including built-to-order milk shakes and in-store roll baking ovens.
- All interior components brought up to new brand standards, including new tile throughout the foodservice and beverage area.
- Newly designed Express Cases.
- All cabinetry and refrigeration cases upgraded and replaced.
"We are doing everything we can to speed this process up and give our customers back their Wawa," said Mattera. "We know our customers count on us and we are so grateful for the patience they've shown this far. We wanted to ensure that we were able to take the time to enhance our customers' experience at these stores."
To thank customers for their patience, when the stores reopen, the retailer will run a 10-day promotion that includes free any-size coffee, any variety of Shorti sandwich for $2.99 and any size fountain drink for 89 cents.
In addition, Wawa will further its ongoing commitment to aiding in the local relief effort by making a $1,000 donation per store to the Feeding America Food Bank located in each specific community. The Food Banks include the Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties and the Community Food Banks of New Jersey (Egg Harbor Township and Hillside branches, and will help to further restock their pantries.
Wawa, based in Wawa, Pa., is a chain of more than 600 convenience retail stores (300 offering gasoline) located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and Florida.
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