As familiar as they are to us, there are 49 states and territories without a single Wawa convenience store. But that's all about to change in 2024, when the gas station and service station chain begins to open stores in North Carolina. Wawa has come a long way since its cult Philadelphia-area shoppers first started preaching about their morning Sizzlis, lemon iced tea, and soft pretzels. In Forbes' annual ranking of the nation's largest private companies, Wawa rose to first place in Pennsylvania and 29th in the United States last year.
The company has been featured on ABC's The Goldbergs and became a topic of conversation around HBO's Mare of Easttown, whose costume designs were partly inspired by Wawa shoppers. In the not-too-distant future, Wawa has plans to expand to its seventh state, North Carolina. Sheetz, the rival of Wawa, based in central Pennsylvania, already has more than 100 locations in North Carolina. Wawa will need to catch up in terms of brand value.
It's not hard to imagine Wawa encompassing a growing territory in the U. S., with plans to open novel outposts in places like London or Hong Kong in the next 20 years. It may seem like an exaggeration today, but there was a time when 7-Eleven was the humble Tote'm Stores in the Dallas area in the 1920s. It now has more than 78,000 stores in 19 states and territories.
In addition to focusing on opening more locations in Florida, Wawa also plans to change offers in its stores. The company is shifting to a line of products that are healthier and of higher quality. These include fair-trade coffee, bean bowls, and brand-name products that contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Focus on Florida Doesn't Mean Wawa Is Neglecting His Home State.
Apparently, the company is on a mission to cover downtown Philadelphia with Wawa stores. It has also announced a Super Wawa for Northeast Philadelphia. The Sunshine State is about to replace Garden State as Wawa Inc. As the convenience retailer increases its number of stores in Florida, it also seeks to increase its number of employees.
Wawa recently announced a hiring campaign to add 1,000 new associates across Florida over the next three months, as previously reported by Convenience Store News. 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 into Florida, Wawa is not neglecting its home state. The convenience retailer recently opened its largest store to date located in Philadelphia's historic Independence Mall on the corner of 6th Street and Chestnut Street in December and began a larger hiring campaign to fill more than 4,000 positions in the next three months. Wawa currently operates around 900 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington D.
C., with much of this growth driven by the expansion of their Super Wawa service stations which account for approximately half of all Wawa stores. These new stores feature 5,547 square feet of retail space and an additional gas facility as well as new graphics, colors, bathroom design and in-store merchandising features.
