MIDDLE TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Wawa Inc. is closing three convenience stores in Cape May County in New Jersey, reported The Press of Atlantic City. The Burleigh, Lower Township and Cape May locations opened in 1989, 1985 and 1983, respectively.
In Cape May, regular customers saw the sign posted Monday that said the store would close at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and realized the rumors they heard in recent weeks were true, said the report. The sign directed customers to a nearby Wawa.
At the checkout, customers could read a letter from Wawa CEO Howard B. Stoeckel, which said that the company [image-nocss] is renovating, expanding and relocating older stores to bring them up to date, but some locations simply do not meet the business plans to support the growing product Wawa is offering, according to the report.
"Closing this store is bittersweet. While we look forward to the future, it is difficult for all of us to say goodbye to the many friends we have come to know over the years," Stoeckel's letter said.
Workers have been offered jobs at other locations, added the report.
Lori Bruce, the public relations manager for Wawa, said about 10 to 12 older Wawas are being closed every year in the company's five-state region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia as it seeks to improve its retail offering. She noted new stores are also being opened with "significant investment" in Cape May County the past five years.
Chainwide, Wawa has opened at least 10 new stores since the beginning of the year, according to its website.
Many of the new stores are larger and have gasoline. Wawa is starting to serve dinners to go. The firm is test-modeling a system in Pennsylvania through which orders can be placed on the Internet, or text messaged, and customers then come in to pick up the order, said the report. They do not have to wait in line. They can even pay on the Internet.
"You constantly have to reinvent yourselves and stay relevant to your customers," Bruce told the newspaper.
Bruce talked in general terms about such closings, but said it is not necessarily specific to these three stores. She said sometimes the buildings or the lots they sit on are too small or can't handle some of the company's newer products or technology. Another problem can be a shortage of parking, which she said is the biggest complaint Wawa gets. She said sometimes Wawa simply renovates a store, but in some cases there are too many issues. Wawa also looks at the performance of each store.
"Times change, and we change with them," Bruce said.
Separately, Buffalo, N.Y.-based Wilson Farms said that a location in Niagara Falls, N.Y., a fixture for more than 30 years and one of the few remaining businesses in a depressed neighborhood, will close its doors on October 17, reported The Niagara Gazette.
In a statement released Monday, company president and CEO Paul Nanula said the store is no longer capable of turning a profit. There are no current plans to close any of the other locations in Western New York, he added.
All of the site's employees will be offered positions at other area stores, said the report.
"While we find the community surrounding the 18th Street store to be a great place in general, the building itself is just not conducive for Wilson Farms to be successful," Nanula said. "The facility is not capable to accommodate the daily functions of a convenience store of our size without a considerable amount of profit loss and therefore the decision was made to close the 18th Street location."
The store was one of the last remaining businesses along the north section of 18th Street, which once featured restaurants, taverns and a laundromat. Today, the neighborhood is more known for its blighted buildings, the report said.
A public relations representative for the company said the decision to close the store was made following a recent performance evaluation. It fell outside the "acceptable criteria" for staying open, and the lease was expiring. Wilson Farms will also be closing a store in Liverpool, but is looking to expand locations elsewhere.
"We have 192 stores and the natural process is to continually evaluate the long-term viability of all locations," Nanula said. "Our plans are to expand the number of locations, as well as invest $15 million to $20 million in improvements over the next three to five years."
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