Dive Brief:
- Wawa opened its first convenience store in West Virginia on Sept. 25, according to a company announcement.
- The retailer’s first site in the state, located in Inwood near the intersection of U.S. Route 11 and West Virginia Route 51, opened its doors a little over a year after Wawa added the state to its expansion plans.
- In West Virginia, Wawa plans to open three to five locations each in Berkeley and Jefferson counties over the next five years.
Dive Insight:
With the Inwood store’s debut, Wawa has now opened in all but one of the states involved in the massive expansion plans it has outlined over the past few years.
In early 2022, the retailer had stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and the District of Columbia. It has since opened in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia. With West Virginia joining the ranks, only Tennessee is waiting for its first Wawa store.
Once Wawa has opened in all of these states, it plans to continue growing in them. West Virginia has been one of the smaller targets, with an initial goal of up to 10 stores over the next few years. However, other states are expecting dozens of stores in this initial phase — notably North Carolina, which could get up to 80 in the next decade.
With all these new stores, Wawa has added a new chief marketing officer in recent weeks. Doug Martin, who joins the convenience retailer from General Mills, will oversee the company’s growing efforts to introduce itself to new areas and new customers.
