WAWA, Pa., Sept. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wawa, a privately held, family-owned chain of more than 1,000 convenience retail stores currently operating in six states and Washington, D.C., shared new details on its expansion into the state of Kentucky for the first time during its two-stop Community Partnership Day Tour in the state.
Wawa’s expansion into Kentucky includes plans to open approximately 40 stores across the region over the next 8-10 years with the first groundbreakings beginning in mid-2024. So far, Wawa has more than 15 sites under contract across Boone, Bullitt, Fayette, Hardin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby and Warren Counties. These projected stores are currently making their way through the permitting and approval process, and Wawa will announce specific locations and estimated timing for the first store openings in Kentucky once these processes are complete. The first store locations are projected to open by mid-2025, with plans to open up to 10 locations that year, five additional stores in 2026 and 5 stores each year thereafter. Wawa teams continue to look for sites throughout the market.
Details on Wawa’s growth plans for the Kentucky market were announced at two Community Partnership events on September 26 in Louisville at Lynn Family Soccer Stadium and in Lexington at Old Historic Courthouse. These events officially introduced Wawa to the community and allowed Wawa leaders to connect with hundreds of new friends, neighbors and VIP customers, as well as local officials and partners. In addition, attendees received a glimpse of new store design renderings and had the opportunity to hear about the Wawa story, Wawa’s unique offering and Wawa’s commitment to its new Midwest region communities, including new partnerships and community support of local organizations.
“We are excited to welcome Wawa to Louisville, and we look forward to working with them as they open multiple locations across our city,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. “This family- and associate-owned convenience store chain has a passionate customer base built around its signature hoagies, freshly brewed coffee, and hand-crafted smoothies, so we encourage everyone to come see what Wawa is all about!”
“We were thrilled to share our ‘flight plan’ for Kentucky and reveal, for the very first time, our exciting expansion plans, renderings and more with our newest soon-to-be neighbors!” said Joe Collins, Director of Store Operations for Wawa. “Our Community Partnership Day events also gave us the opportunity to meet new faces and talk a little bit about our history and what makes Wawa such an ideal fit for communities in this region. We can’t wait to begin putting shovels into the ground next year! As we get closer to our grand openings in 2025, we will be sharing even more details on our growth in Kentucky and connecting with more customers, communities, partners and nonprofit organizations that together make this such an incredible region to be a part of!”
At the Community Partnership Day events, Wawa also encouraged guests to enjoy a Taste of Wawa, including samples of freshly made hoagies, freshly brewed coffee and other handcrafted beverages as it debuted its new Wawa Community Care Beverage Vehicle. Altogether, Wawa distributed thousands of samples of Wawa strawberry smoothies and Wawa Dragon Fruit Refreshers, hundreds of cups of Wawa regular and flavored coffees, and hundreds of hoagie samples.
Finally, Wawa announced contributions to three regional community partners: Kentucky Special Olympics, Dare to Care Food Pantry and God’s Pantry Food Bank, with contributions totaling more than $22,000.
To download Broll clips of Kentucky Community Day Tour Highlights, visit: https://www.wawa.com/about/public-relations/expansion-news.
About Wawa’s Growth & Expansion in Kentucky
Over the next 8-10 years, Wawa plans to build at least 40 stores across Kentucky markets, with the first stores breaking ground in 2024 and up to ten stores opening in 2025. Wawa is actively looking into potential sites for new stores in the Kentucky markets. To build each store, Wawa will invest approximately $7 million and employ, on average, 140 contractors and local partners. Once open, each store will employ, on average, 35 associates, with Wawa expecting to create more than 1,400 new jobs as a result of its expansion. Wawa associates own 39% of the Company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
About Wawa’s Core Purpose
Wawa’s core purpose is Fulfilling Lives, Every Day. It captures Wawa’s special place in the world and recognizes Wawa’s higher calling beyond convenience and satisfaction. It inspires Wawa associates to create meaningful personal connections and make a real difference in the lives of customers, communities and each other, every day.
About Wawa, Inc.
Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, family and associate-owned company that began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, PA in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and “certified” process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 in Pennsylvania as an outlet for dairy products. Today, Wawa is your all day, every day stop for freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs. Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. with nearly 1,000 locations to date. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as custom prepared hoagies, freshly-brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, hand-crafted specialty beverages, a dinner menu including burgers and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks. Forbes.com Ranks Wawa as #24 of America’s Largest Private Companies in 2021, #12 on Forbes 100 Halo List in 2022 and one of Forbes 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women and New College Grads, and Ranked #1 by Newsweek for Best Customer Service in the Convenience category.
About The Wawa Foundation
The Wawa Foundation is an extension of Wawa’s commitment to making the world a better place by fulfilling customers’ lives every day. The Wawa Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded by Wawa, Inc. to support the company’s charitable giving and philanthropic activities – and ultimately to help build happier, stronger communities. The Wawa Foundation focuses its support on organizations committed to health, hunger and everyday heroes through local, regional and national grants and / or in-store fundraising, through donation boxes and point-of-purchase scan materials. Since 2014, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation have contributed more than $150 million to causes supporting health, hunger and everyday heroes.
CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e03b3ed7-1eeb-4925-be86-624067e3c4ae
