Wawa to open 1st travel center with services for truckers

The event will also highlight community partnerships and support for local organizations and celebrate local everyday heroes with Wawa’s signature “Hoagies for Heroes” initiative.

It will be the first location that can provide a place for over-the-road truck drivers to pick up Wawa food and convenience store offerings.

“We are thrilled to pilot this new format in Hope Mills and believe this new travel center model is a great way to bring Wawa to customers while serving a need to the travelers,” said John Poplawski, Wawa Chief Real Estate Officer. “Not only will our Wawa Travel Center meet the fueling needs of professional drivers, but our store will offer the freshest of food, beverages, conveniences and the friendliest flock of associates, while also remaining a community hub for local friends and neighbors to enjoy.”

The  Wawa Travel Center prototype is housed in 8,000 square feet of space and  will offer Wawa’s  fresh food (hoagies etc.) and beverage and fueling  for big rigs and passenger vehicles.  Six high-speed diesel fuel lanes and 20 fuel spots for passenger vehicles will available. 

Unlike most Wawas, the  store will have interior and exterior seating areas and a large open design for the fresh food and beverage area. Other amenities include a CAT weigh station, free parking for tractor-trailers, well-appointed restrooms and a pet relief area.

Over the next eight to ten  years, Wawa plans to build and open six to eight  stores per year reaching a total of 90 stores in North Carolina. Wawa has 1,100 stores, including about four dozen in Delaware.

Each store represents a  $7.5 million investment  and employs, on average, 140 contractors and local partners to build the store. Once open, each store will employ an average of 35 associates with Wawa expecting to create more than 3,000 long-term new jobs in North Carolina.

As Wawa expands in the Midwest and South, it will have more opportunities to secure large tracts that can handle both truckers and traditional customers. It will also compete chains with larger footprints, the most extreme example being Buc-ees, which started out in Texas and recently opened a location near Harrisonville, VA.

in North Carolina, Wawa faces long-time competitors Sheetz and Royal Farms.

 Forbes.com Ranks Wawa as #22 among America’s largest private companies.