Wawa will open its first six locations in Alabama in the next year, the chain said during press conferences in Mobile and Spanish Fort, Alabama, according to an AL.com report.
The new stores follow Wawa’s plan, announced in April, to double its store count by 2030, CEO Chris Gheysens told the Philadelphia Business Journal. That would bring the total store count to approximately 1,800 locations, with new stores in the Florida markets of Pensacola, Panama City and Tallahassee, along with Mobile, Alabama.
The first Wawa store in Mobile, Alabama, will be built at the intersection of Cottage Hill and Sollie Roads, and the second will be at the intersection of Schillinger Road and Old Government Street Road.
In Baldwin County, stores will be coming to four locations:
- U.S. 98 and Baldwin 44 (Twin Beech Road) in Fairhope
- Alabama 181 and Alabama 104 in Fairhope
- U.S. 98 and Johnson Road in Daphne
- Alabama 59 and Baldwin 48 in Robertsdale
Wawa will invest about $6.5 million per store, and with 40 stores planned in the region, it adds up to a $260 million investment. Each store will employ around 35 associates, with salaries starting at $15 per hour, according to AL.com.
Wawa’s decision to come into the region is “the ultimate affirmation” of the Mobile area's promising economic outlook, Bradley Byrne, president and CEO of the chamber of commerce said at one press conference, according to the report.
“You can count on us to deliver,” said Sandy Stimpson, mayor of Mobile, Alabama, at the conference.
- Wawa is No. 9 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of convenience store chains by store count.
Wawa, Pennsylvania-based Wawa has more than 950 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
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