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Wawa is a chain of convenience store/fast food restaurant/gas stations located in the eastern United States. Chains are mostly in the Delaware Valley region of the Northeast United States, although the chain has now expanded into Virginia as far as the Hampton Roads region and North Carolina. The chains can be found throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, Central & Southern New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Company On April 16, 1964, Wawa Food Markets opened their first store in Folsom, Pennsylvania under the guidance of Mark Battaglini & Ashley Forte. To this day many Wood family members are active within the company. Although Wawa is a family-run business, the employees of Wawa also hold a relatively large percentage of stock. Most Wawas are open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The chain's name comes from the site of the company's first milk plant and corporate headquarters in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The name of the town is in turn derived from the Ojibwe word for the Canada Goose (taken from The Song of Hiawatha).• An image of a goose in flight serves as the Wawa corporate logo.• Wawa sells millions of cups of coffee a year. The Wawa deli counter is notable as it was among the first convenience food-marts to implement self-serve computer touch-screen menus for food orders, which improve accuracy and can be used as gateways to up-selling. The current CEO is Howard Stoeckel, and Eleuthère (Thère) du Pont serves as both the CFO and President. Richard D. (Dick) Wood Jr. is chairman of the board of directors. In 2004, Wawa ranked 72nd on the Forbes Magazine list of the largest private companies. Wawa currently has 13,000 employees, 550+ stores (142 with gasoline) and had gross revenues of $3.08 billion dollars in 2004. In recent years, many Wawa Markets have been expanded to "Super Wawas", with 12-20 gas pumps. All new Wawas constructed are of the "Super Wawa" variety. Wawa, for the most part, covers the parts of the Keystone State not already covered by fast-growing in-state rivals Sheetz and Turkey Hill Minit Marts. Wawas are often neighborhood gathering places. Many colleges have Wawas on campus or close by, including West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Lafayette College, Valley Forge Military College, East Stroudsburg University, Virginia State University and The College of William and Mary. Wawa is headquartered in Wawa, Pennsylvania, a neighborhood that includes parts of Middletown Township and Chester Heights Borough in Delaware County. The corporate headquarters, known as Red Roof, is on Baltimore Pike in Chester Heights. The nearby dairy farm across from the former Franklin Mint is in Middletown. Wawa Dairy Farms Wawa Dairy is a dairy processor which produces its own line of milk, ice cream, iced teas, juices, and fruit drinks sold in Wawa stores. George Wood started Wawa Dairy Farms in 1902 with a small herd of cows and a processing and bottling plant in Wawa, Pennsylvania. This early dairy operation was famous for its "Doctor Approved" pasteurized milk. In the early 20th Century Wawa's Milk Men were so well trusted by their clients that many of them were given the keys to the households which they delivered to, so that they could simply help themselves in and place the milk in the ice box. In popular culture Pennsylvania-based music group The Bloodhound Gang refer to the Wawa chain in their tracks "Pennsylvania" and "Overheard in a Wawa Parking Lot" on their 2005 album Hefty Fine. They specifically address the lack of name recognition out of the Delaware River Region, with the line "Do you even know what a Wawa is?" Anticon rapper Why? referred to the Ardmore, PA Wawa in his song "Six". Humorist Dave Barry also mentions the chain in his book Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys, claiming that, during his days as a Haverford College student and subsequent West Chester, Pennsylvania resident, his bachelor pad would often be filled with "cartons of Wawa brand iced tea". In the "scavenger hunt" episode of MTV's Viva La Bam, a few of the stunts are performed at a Wawa store in Pennsylvania, with the help of The Bloodhound Gang. Wawa also had some references in the Bam Margera films CKY and Haggard: The Movie when Valo (played by bam) tells Ry (Ryan Dunn) to "break bottles behind Wawa." The FX TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia often makes references to Wawa. The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling often discusses Wawa with character (and Wawa employee) Philly Boy Roy, played by Jon Wurster. Advertising slogans Store locations by state (estimated) | ||||||||
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