Wawa expands into western Virginia, Ohio

Wawa has been in Virginia for a quarter-century but  stayed in the northern part of the commonwealth.

"We are thrilled to continue growing in new markets to provide the community with our one-of-a-kind offer and commitment to supporting the community,” said Kim Dowgielewicz, director for store operations for Wawa. “We are to announce our plans and officially start construction on our stores and look forward to our first grand openings to begin serving the community later in 2025.”

The expansion into western Virginia is part of growing competition between Delaware County-based Wawa and its Central Pennsylvania-based rival Sheetz.

Wawa is adding stores in Central Pennsylvania while Sheetz is moving closer to Wawa's Delaware Valley stronghold. The closest store to Delaware is in the border town of Elkton, MD. Delaware has about four dozen Wawas that specialize in a variety of drinks, coffee,  hoagies, pizza and fast food breakfasts breakfasts. 

Sheetz also plans to move further into Wawa's territory, with a store in Downingtown in Chester County, PA

New store  opportunities in its Delaware Valley stronghold are limited, thanks to limited real estate options. One exception is fast-growing Sussex County, DE, although pressure to deal with growth issues and traffic  congestion around stores may affect plans.

Wawa has closed smaller  locations in Delaware over the years,  while adding stores with gas pumps and electric charging stations. It has retained many locations without gas pumps in high traffic areas.

Wawa is also moving into the Midwest and the deep south after establishing its second biggest store cluster in Florida.  The company will open its first Ohio store near Cincinnati this week while  expanding into Kentucky and Tennessee.

It will faced entrenched competitors like Quik Trip, Casey's. An emerging rival is Buc-ee's, which operates massive stores in the Sun Belt with dozens  of gas pumps, branded  merchandise, barbecue and other items.

Like Wawa, Buc-ee's has a loyal following and attracts media attention when it enters new markets.

Wawa’s initial plans for the western Virginia market which will include six to eight  new Wawa stores open in 2025 and up to 60 over the next ten years.

Wawa will invest approximately $7.5 million and employ, on average, 140 contractors and local partners at each store.  Once open, each store will employ an average of 35 associates.

Wawa is a family and employee owned company that has its roots in a New Jersey iron foundry, with the founding Wood  family later starting a dairy operation in the neighboring Delaware County, PA community of Wawa.

The Wood and duPont families are related by marriage with a member of the duPont family at one time in an executive position at Wawa. The Wood family fortune is estimated to be $6 billion. 

Wawa is one  of the nation's 25 largest privately held companies.