FOLSOM, Pa. --Wawa Inc. shuttered its first convenience store, opened more than a half-century ago. Founder Grahame Wood opened the first Wawa retail outlet on April 16, 1964, in Folsom, Pa., in suburban Philadelphia.
On June 16, Wawa opened the doors at the relocated "super Wawa" nearby and shut the Folsom store, reported the Delaware County Daily Times. The long-planned closing of store No. 1 was announced in 2014.
The Wawa, Pa.-based retailer now operates 731 c-stores in six states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida. It will remodel all 450 Wawa stores built before 2010, the report said.
To honor the history and tradition of store No. 1 while celebrating the grand opening of the new location, Wawa executives and associates led a parade from the original location to the new location for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, said a report by the Delaware County News Network. It included a band, Wawa’s 1918 vintage “autocar” antique milk truck, a VFW honor guard and mascots.
“The parade and grand opening celebration will honor Wawa’s traditions while celebrating its commitment to fulfilling lives every day,” the company said in a press release obtained by the newspaper. “All associates from the original store No. 1 will relocate to the new location. The new store will also feature Wawa’s new, state-of-the-art store design as well as a number of historical tributes to the original store No. 1, a photo timeline and a digital tributes looking back on significant Wawa events, and a selfie station/marker made of a replica of the original store No. 1 pole sign.”
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