Wawa Unveils New $7 Million Store Design, Expansion Plans

Wawa has set sights on its latest market for expansion and revealed some details about the future of the beloved convenience store chain.

Wawa presently has 1,000 stores in 6 states and Washington, D.C., and has big plans for North Carolina over the next several years.

Wawa intends to open 80 new stores across the eastern part of the state by 2034, eight of which they plan to open in 2024.

Last week, Wawa said it has 30 sites under contract so far in North Carolina and is looking for more potential locations.

The chain held the groundbreaking in May for the first North Carolina store in Kill Devil Hills.

These new North Carolina stores will introduce Wawa's new 5,900-square-foot store design, each with around 35 employees. The store will cost around $7 million each to build.

“As we get closer to our grand openings in 2024, we will be sharing even more details on our growth in North Carolina,” Kim Dowgielewicz, director of store operations, said in a statement.

Wawa has already unveiled expansion plans for the Midwest, with 160 stores in the works for Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

Last Wednesday, Wawa President Brian Schaller spoke at the Community Day introduction in Greenville, North Carolina about what he sees as "a ton of opportunity" in North Carolina.

Schaller said Wawa had been in the state for years scoping out potential store sites and the feeling he has gotten from North Carolina is that "it feels a lot like home to us".

Of course, the real home of Wawa is the Philadephia area and New Jersey where the first Wawa stores opened in 1964.

With the North Carolina rollout, Wawa is methodically making its way down the I-95 corridor from Virgina.