The story, since removed from the TV news outlet's website, had said that following the closing of an area Wilson Farms store in December, Wawa was expanding into the area and was set to open its first store in the region on September 1. The store was said to be [image-nocss] an independently owned Wawa location, and the owner told WSYR that he planned competitive pricing on products, and also hoped to open three or four more Wawa stores around Syracuse in the near future.
The report got the attention of the Wawa. "We don't franchise, and we don't have independent operators, so we're looking into this now,'' Lori Bruce, the Wawa, Pa.-based regional retailer's public relations manager, told local newspaper The Post Standard. "As much as we'd love to come to Syracuse, we aren't right now."
A new-business listing said a "Wawa Food Mart'' was planned for a location in downtown Syracuse, to be owned by Essi Tadrus of Camillus, N.Y. Tadrus' most recent venture was running the Sweet Chunky's barbecue restaurants that operated briefly then closed suddenly in the spring in Fairmount and Eastwood, N.Y.
A Mike Tadrus told WSYR he wanted to be an independent Wawa store, but could not because Wawa does not franchise. So, according to the report, while Tadrus may open his new store next week, and while he has filed a DBA certificate as Wawa, lawyers said that he will have to call the store something else.
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