WAWA, Pa. -- Upper East Coast transplants in Florida may soon have easier access to Wawa's beloved hoagie sandwiches. According to a report in Oil Express, the Pennsylvania-based retailer has completed demographic studies on Florida and other states with plans to construct multiple-pump island superstores in the Orlando market.
If all goes well, the report said, Wawa could have 75 to100 stores with gasoline in the state by 2013.
Wawa spokesperson Lori Bruce confirmed via e-mail that Wawa is seeking to expand beyond its current operations in Pennsylvania, [image-nocss] New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. "We have been searching for the next new 'Wawaland' and doing our due diligence in several markets, Florida being one of them," Bruce told CSP Daily News.
"In the coming months, we will begin to make real-estate decisions in a new market outside of our five-state mid-Atlantic operating area," she said, adding that the company has not purchased or leased sites for a future "Wawaland," so it is premature to discuss specific sites, locations and a timeline.
According to the Oil Express report, a Florida expansion makes sense, despite being noncontiguous with Wawa's other markets because there are many Mid-Atlantic transplants there. The report further points out that retail analysts believe the company's high-margin foodservice revenue exceeds competition there. A competitive gasoline offering also makes sense because there are many motorists there and many Florida retailers couldn't meet the state's recent underground tank standards and therefore no longer offer gasoline.
For now, Bruce confirmed that Wawa will be opening close to 25 new stores in its current five-state market during 2010 and potentially another 20 in the five markets in 2011.
Meanwhile, Wawa is making its way to northern New Jersey, according to a separate report by The Star-Ledger. The company is building a c-store and gas station in Parsippany, Bruce told the newspaper. The new store, slated to open in November, will be the northernmost Wawa in the state.
The top portion of the state has long been considered the turf of 7-Eleven and Quick Chek, said the report, while Wawa stores have spread throughout central and southern New Jersey.
Bruce did not say if more stores are planned for the northern counties. But Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), said it could be possible. Wawa is one of the most wanted convenience store chains, he said, and the large amount of people in the area is hard to ignore. "They do so many things well," he told the paper. "It wouldn't surprise me if they go into the bigger market of northern New Jersey."
Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa Inc. operates 573 stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.
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