Wawa stores open and close, changing South Jersey's landscape

At two Wawa stores about a mile apart, the parking lots were jammed one recent morning — but for very different reasons.

In Gloucester Township, a cheerful crowd celebrated the grand opening of a Wawa that pairs a spacious store with a multi-pump fueling station.

But down the road in Pine Hill, busy workers were emptying out an older, smaller Wawa — a "legacy" shop doomed by the nearby superstore's arrival.

Chain crossed the Delaware in 1968 What is your favorite Wawa? Is it one of the originals in South Jersey?

And that change was no cause for celebration for locals who had used the store for decades.

"I can't get coffee any more!" lamented Terry Harris, who runs a hardware store opposite the Erial Road Wawa.

Indeed, 359 people signed an online petition that sought to save the Pine Hill store.

Wawa petition failed to save store

The campaign's organizer, Angela Kosar, had argued a shutdown would hurt the local business environment and "disappoint a community that is already awash with dollar stores and vape shops."

"It will eliminate, well, convenience and the random 'wawa' run we all love and is a part of our local culture," she wrote in her appeal.

"Isn't that what Wawa is at its essence? A convenience store?"

Well, maybe not.

Wawa notes its new 5,600-square-foot store has "a built-to-order, fresh food kitchen" — essentially a take-out restaurant.

The company's menu is anchored by hoagies (80 million sold annually) and coffee (195 million cups per year).

But it also offers hamburgers, sandwiches, burritos, soups and salads for lunch and dinner.

There's pizza at night, and Sizzli breakfast sandwiches for the morning crowd.

Not to mention specialty beverages, bakery treats and a recently introduced online catering service.

How big is Wawa — and how big could it get?

Wawa opened its 1,000th store in Oaklyn in July, an event that also corresponded with the closing of a nearby legacy store.

The Erial store is the 54th to open this year in Wawa's traditional market — the Mid-Atlantic region and southern Florida.

The company plans to add up to 21 more stores this year. That includes a Washington Township store, scheduled to open Nov. 30 at Egg Harbor and Blackwood-Barnsboro roads.

And Wawa, named America's 24th largest private firm with annual revenues of $15 billion by Forbes.com, is preparing to build stores in Florida's Panhandle and an adjacent area of Alabama.

Landmark eatery to be razed Red Lion Diner closes in Southampton; a Wawa is planned

It also plans to move into Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

The new store replaced a bank and three homes at Erial-Clementon and New Brooklyn-Erial roads.

It faces a remnant of the company's past - another legacy store that was built in 1970 and closed decades ago.

But the new store also left a void in Pine Hill, Kosar said after it opened.

"I would say that our community is disappointed in Wawa’s decision," she said.

"Pine Hill already suffers from a lack of business development. Losing this particular Wawa means losing a sense of community as well," she observed.

"Customers became friends with the staff. There’s a comfort level there," continued Kosar, who added Wawa's growth strategy "should not be done to the detriment of the small-town stores like the one in Pine Hill that become a social hub for the community."

When the superstore opened Nov. 16 with festive balloons and a ribbon-cutting, the contents of the Pine Hill shop were being carried into a parking lot closed off with traffic cones and caution tape.

"It's an army over there," noted Harris at Pine Hill True Value, as workers wheeled away refrigerator equipment, shelves, and even the bright red trash containers.

But while Harris wasn't happy to see his neighbor leave, he also offered a retailer's practical view.

"They have a business model," he said of Wawa, "and it works pretty well."

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Wawa opens: Pine Hill's loss is Gloucester Township's gain