A BELOVED convenience store chain is removing two locations in just days, leaving customers little time to make purchases.
The sudden closures come as it seeks to shed longtime stores that have become outdated and lacking a crucial feature in one state.
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Wawa, which has over 1,113 locations nationwide, confirmed earlier in April that the two getting removed are in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
They are located in Mayfair and Castor neighborhoods at 6505 Frankford Avenue and 6919 Castor Avenue, respectively.
The former is shutting its doors for good on April 22 and the latter on April 24.
Pennsylvania is an iconic state for the chain, as that’s where it began back in 1902 as Wawa Dairy before massive growth.
Read More on Store Closures
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter filed by Wawa revealed that the reasoning behind the closures involved failed efforts to update the design of the stores, including adding gas pumps.
They, therefore, failed to meet consumer demands.
DECISION MADE
“Every year, we evaluate our stores across our chain including performance, conditions, operational challenges, or the possibility to modernize them,” Miriam Enriquez, Wawa director of government relations and corporate social responsibility, noted in the letter.
“At times, we must make the difficult decision to close some of them.”
It’s not all bad news for local customers, however.
They can get free coffee at the Mayfair and Castor Wawa locations before they close down.
The costless drinks will be available the day before each store is gone.
So, for the Mayfair Wawa, that’s April 21, and the Castor, April 23.
Each closing Wawa is only one mile from the other, but local customers can still access two other nearby locations that remain operational.
They are located at 7001 Roosevelt Boulevard and 6400 Bustleton Avenue.
Wawa Locations By State
Wawa has over 1,100 convenience stores and gas stations spread across at least 10 states and will soon expand to several others by 2025.
- Alabama
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- Washington, DC
A total of 20 Wawas still operate in Philadelphia.
Wawa was also recently named “best” convenience chain, per DailyMail.com.
Customers have praised its expanded menu offerings of hot-and-ready meals along with Delivery & Curbside Pickup services that were introduced in 2021.
SMALL CUTS
Despite the two Pennsylvania closures to come, Wawa hasn’t closed many locations in recent years.
The most recent was in February, with a 36-year-old store in Collingswood, New Jersey, getting the axe.
In October, the chain closed another New Jersey location in Cherry Hill that had operated for over 50 years.
Last July, a 45-year-old Wawa in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia was also taken down for good.
THINKING AHEAD
Wawa’s closing of older locations also comes amid its expansion plans for modern and updated stores nationwide.
It announced recently that it would invest about $1.2 billion in new locations across states like Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
At least 160 across the three states are expected to open in the coming years, with some as early as this summer.
Each store costs about $7.5 million to open and creates 35 jobs.
There are expected to be about 1,800 Wawa stores by 2030.
7-Eleven also detailed expansion plans in October, with 600 “food and beverage” stores to open with a new design.
Another popular convenience store quietly closed down all of its remaining locations last month after a bankruptcy filing.