Wawa is opening its first Kentucky convenience store on Thursday in Louisville.
- Wawa is No. 10 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
The store, located at 9650 Preston Crossing Blvd. in Jefferson County, is the first of five to eight Wawa locations expected to open in Kentucky by the end of the year. It will offer fresh food, beverages, fuel and more.
Wawa, based in Wawa, Pennsylvania, has also broken ground on a second Kentucky location at 3012 Lexington Road in Nicholasville.
Wawa plans to build and open five to eight stores per year in Kentucky with plans to open more than 40 stores in the state. To build each store, Wawa will invest more than $7.5 million and employ, on average, 140 contractors and local partners, the company said. Once open, each store will employ an average of 35 associates, with Wawa expecting to create 1,400 new, long-term new jobs.
In June 2024, Wawa said it had more than 20 sites under contract across several Kentucky counties. Those sites were going through the local land development and permitting processes at the time and include locations in the counties of Boone, Bullitt, Campbell, Fayette, Hardin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby, Simpson and Warren.
“We are excited to fly into Kentucky and bring our unique combination of fresh food and beverage, convenience and service to this state for the very first time. This historic milestone continues our ongoing growth and expansion in the Midwest as we continue to build new stores and create new jobs,” said Brian Schaller, president of Wawa. “We are also thrilled about extending our support to several community partnerships made on opening day.”
Wawa opened its first Indianapolis store on July 10.
Wawa has more than 1,000 stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The company previously announced that it will open 80 c-stores in North Carolina, the first eight in 2024, and up to 20 in Georgia, with the first under construction in late 2023. Wawa also has revealed plans for 160 stores across the Midwest in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. And it said it plans to grow its store count in existing markets.
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