WAWA, Pa. -- Pennsylvania-based convenience retailer Wawa Inc. is making moves toward Washington, D.C., according to a report by the Washington Business Journal.
"We have several sites in the works," Peter Gilligan, Wawa Inc.'s vice president and chief real estate officer, told the newspaper while representing the company at the International Council of Shopping Centers' Mid-Atlantic Conference, held this week at National Harbor.
He would not specify where those sites are located, however. "We're looking to fill out the D.C. and Baltimore corridor, both in Northern Virginia and Maryland," he said.
The company would like to enter Washington, D.C., proper as well, but currently intends to add locations with both gas stations and convenience stores, which means that it is harder to fit Wawa's space requirements in the city, Gilligan said.
Wawa sites normally are around 5,000 square feet each, said the report. The company has smaller, convenience-only locations in such cities as Philadelphia, but it recently opened a location with fuel in the Baltimore area. The company's closest location to Washington, D.C., is in Beltsville, Md.
Wawa has appeared at ICSC before, so the company's presence alone does not signal that we will immediately see a rush of locations there, but plans do sound more concrete this year, said the Business Journal.
The Wawa, Pa.-based company currently operates approximately 600 c-stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.
Altoona, Pa.-based convenience retailer Sheetz Inc. was also present at the conference. But fans of that Altoona, Penn.-based company will have to wait longer for more Sheetz spots closer to the District of Columbia, said the report. A spokesperson told the paper that Sheetz is focusing on its existing markets, as well as regions in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Wawa is on pace to open a dozen stores in Florida, reported the Tampa Bay Times. Six stores under construction around Orlando are slated for a July 18 opening, and a half-dozen more locations are lined up in the bay area to open by this time next year.
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