Wawa has an impressive presence in the United States, with 840 stores in six states and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania is home to 236 of these stores, making it the state with the most Wawa locations. With a population of nearly 13 million people, that means there is one Wawa tent for every 52,683 people. The convenience store chain has been expanding its presence in Pennsylvania, particularly along the borders of Lancaster and Berks counties.
Sheetz remains dominant in the Harrisburg region, but Wawa is quickly catching up. In fact, three years ago, Wawa celebrated the launch of its 800th store and now has nearly 950 stores in six states and Washington DC. New Jersey has the most outposts, followed by Pennsylvania and then Florida. All three have more than 200 Wawas each.
Wawa currently has 17 stores in Berks and Lancaster Counties and is looking to expand further into central Pennsylvania. The company encourages people to fill out an online form to suggest sites for future store locations. The Sunshine State is about to replace New Jersey as the state with the most Wawas. The convenience retailer recently announced a hiring campaign to add 1,000 new associates across Florida over the next three months.
Additionally, Wawa began construction of three Miami stores in October and expects to operate a total of 50 stores in South Florida in the coming years. Despite this expansion in Florida, Wawa is not neglecting its home state. The convenience retailer recently opened its largest store to date in Philadelphia's historic Independence Mall and began a larger hiring campaign to fill more than 4,000 positions in the next three months. Wawa plans to double its number of stores in the next three to five years and is hosting contracting events as it prepares to open its first convenience stores in Miami.
The retailer also unveiled plans to add up to 40 new stores in central Pennsylvania, where rival Sheetz has a strong presence. Currently, there are 7 states and territories in the U. S. with Wawa locations and 49 without any Wawa location.
With around 965 Wawa stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington D. C., there is one location per 32,298 people - accounting for approximately 28% of the total number of Wawa locations - or one location per 88,752 people - accounting for approximately 24% of the total number of Wawa locations. What's more, Wawa is 41% employee-owned with some saying its employee stock ownership plan is the second largest ESOP in the country.
