Wawa: “Gottahava Wawa”
How did a chain of retail stores ever get a name like Wawa? Well, as the story goes, Wawa is the Native American name for the Canada Goose, which was found in the Delaware Valley over a century ago. The Wawa company’s first dairy farm was built in 1902 on land in Wawa, Pennsylvania. So, there you go! A Canada goose in flight serves as the company’s logo.
With 30,000 employees and 797 retail stores located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and Washington, D.C. , Wawa has become a household name on the east coast.
Wawa’s 797 U.S. Store Locations
“Doctor certified” milk: Wawa’s early success
Wawa, Inc., began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. The foundry’s owner, George Wood became interested in dairy farming in the late 1800’s and opened a small processing plant in Wawa, Pennsylvania in 1902.
In the early part of that century, many children were becoming sick from drinking raw milk, so Wood had doctors “certify” his milk, and it was delivered directly to a customers’ homes. Wood’s “doctor certified” milk made the company a great success.
By the 1960’s the milk delivery business was dwindling as customers shopped more at supermarkets. This lead to the opening of the first Wawa Food Market at 1212 MacDade Boulevard in Folsom, Pennsylvania, on April 16, 1964.
By 1972, the Wawa chain had grown to 100 store locations and by 1992, there were 500 Wawa stores. Today, there are more than 797 Wawa stores.
How many hoagies did you say?
More than 60 million made-to-order hoagies are sold annually at the Wawa locations in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. That’s a lot of hoagies!
Looking for a fresh, made-to-your-liking hoagie? How about a cup of Wawa’s signature coffee, a Smoothie, or a Latte ? (Wawa sells 195 million cups of coffee a year). Need to fill your gas tank or get some cash from a surcharge-free ATM? You can do it all at Wawa! And, to top it all off, most Wawa stores are open 365 days at year, 24-hours a day.
Wawa’s head office is located at Red Roof, 260 W. Baltimore Pike
Wawa, Pennsylvania.
Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing