WAWA, Pa. -- Wawa Inc.'s CEO-elect Christopher T. Gheysens learned business at his dad's car wash, according to profile of the convenience executive in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"This company isn't about the CEO. We have 18,000 associates, and this is really about them," the workers Wawa relies on to keep heavy users coming back at 600 stores, Gheysens, Wawa's past CFO and current president, told the newspaper.
He is scheduled to take over as CEO when Howard Stoeckel retires at year's end.
At 41, Gheysens is a 15-year Wawa veteran. The Villanova graduate (he later got a St. Joe's MBA) joined after a stint in Deloitte's retail-business accounting practice. He will head the team Stoeckel put together to lead the company's expansion beyond the Mid-Atlantic, as it prepares a newly designed line of stores (at $6 million each), and tests, as always, new food and drink and gadgets.
Gheysens "has got goose blood. Just like all of us," Stoeckel, referring to the company's flying-bird logo, told the paper.
"I have grown up at Wawa, working alongside the operating lieutenants. I was in on the decisions at the meetings," Gheysens said, in a storeroom sit-down with the Inquirer at Wawa's Claymont, Del., store after a rally to thank Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) for easing private-company auditing compliance rules as part of the so-called JOBS Act (see Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage).
"We've put together some of our most aggressive store growth plans. We're going to retrofit our stores" to speed things up with digital selection, espresso machines, and maybe in-store bakeries, he said.
Wawa had worked in recent years to centralize food production at South Jersey plants operated by partners such as Amoroso's, J&J Snack Foods and McLane Co.
"The new stores will focus on fresh food to go," said Stoeckel. "New store designs will have a kitchen with workstations, different from the stores today. There will be digital signage and menu boards to showcase food and real espresso machines. In fact, we'll be rolling those out to all stores this year. More and more, food service is critical to our long-range strategy. We want to be the most appetizing convenience retail store."
To see Gheysens in action, watch the video above or click here to view an October 2011 speech at Villanova University in Villanova, Pa.
Established in 1803 in Millville, N.J., Wawa has evolved over the years from its early stages as an iron foundry to its modern day business as a fresh food, fuel and convenience store chain. With more than 590 stores across five Mid-Atlantic states and annual revenues exceeding $7 billion, Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa ranks 50th on the Forbes magazine list of America's largest private companies.
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