BRADENTON, Fla. -- Doughnuts, scrambled eggs and fruity frozen beverages were a few of the 700 different samples offered on August 20 at Bradenton, Fla.'s newest Wawa location, reported The Bradenton Herald. The 700 samples and 700 t-shirts the convenience-store chain gave away marked its 700th store opening.
The c-store's 700th customer received a gift basket. And before launching a hoagie competition, Wawa employees and customers participated in a parade of history beginning in 1803 when the company began as an iron foundry in New Jersey.
As a part of the celebration, the store, which created 45 new jobs, offered grand-opening specials on fountain drinks and sandwiches, with free coffee available through August 30.
"We are delighted to mark the milestone of our 700th store chainwide with the Bradenton community," Chris Gheysens, Wawa president and CEO said.
The 700th store opening cements Wawa's foray into the region, said the report. Bradenton has one other open Wawa location, with another opening on September 10 and another that will open this fall.
Peter Gilligan, vice president and chief real estate officer for Wawa, told the newspaper that the company continues to expand in Bradenton because of the "terrific reception" in the community.
"The whole Gulf Coast is a combination of people who know us and who connect back to us from the Northeast," he said. "Plus lots of native Floridians. It's a great year-round community and seasonal community."
The new location is the chain’s 71st Sunshine State store to open in three years. Wawa Inc. hopes to open its 100th store in Florida by the end of 2016, the company told the Herald. The Wawa, Pa.-based company operates approximately 700 convenience stores (more than 435 offering gasoline) in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland, as well as Florida.
Watch the Herald’s video below, and click here to view the newspaper's fullreport, including additional photos of the event.
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