Chris Gheysens has been at Wawa’s helm since early 2012, just two years before the company celebrated 50 years in business. The company has grown dramatically since.
Last May, Wawa opened store No. 800 in Wilmington, Del., and the chain has already surpassed 860 units since then in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. Major growth fronts include Florida, where Wawa has opened 200 stores, a figure it plans to double by 2028. And this past September, the chain unveiled plans to open 40 new stores in Northern Virginia in the next 15 years.
Gheysens is also building on Wawa’s innovation cred in the year ahead. The chain announced it would build solar installations at 93 sites by the end of 2020. As electricity powers more stores, Wawa is using it to power more cars. The company has committed to doubling the number of Tesla Supercharger electric vehicle charging stations at its sites, also by the end of 2020.