WAWA, Pa. --Wawa Inc. honored its 52nd anniversary in retail, on the week of its founding in 1964, by holding “Wawa Day” on April 14. The convenience-store chain celebrated the occasion by offering customers free coffee of any size all day and chainwide.
Convenience Store Products celebrated the iconic c-store chain's birthday with a look at the products that helped make it famous.
Arguably the chain's most-craved, most-famous product is the Wawa Hoagie. This sandwich actually has its own day and its own festival. Last year, organizers expected to dish out 5 tons of hoagies to lucky visitors. The first Wawa Hoagie Day was commemorated with a free, 500-foot hoagie at Philadelphia City Hall in 1992. On that day, then-Mayor Ed Rendell proclaimed the hoagie the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia.”
Click here to take a look at all of the products.
Wawa also posted a video (watch it below) on social media highlighting some of its employees that it calls “Day Brighterners.”
A privately held company, Wawa began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming, and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, Pa., in 1902. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George's grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products.
A chain of more than 700 convenience stores (more than 435 offering gasoline), Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as built-to-order hoagies, freshly brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, built-to-order specialty beverages and soups, sides and snacks.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.