WASHINGTON — Gas pump-free Wawa stores will be popping up in several D.C. neighborhoods in the next couple of years, and the convenience store chain, better known for its tarmac-sized filling stations off suburban highway exits, sees plenty of opportunity in the city.
The first urban Wawa convenience store opens late this year on 19th Street NW, south of Dupont Circle.
John Poplawski, Wawa’s head of real estate development, said D.C. was a no-brainer for its urban concept expansion.
“It fits all of the things we are looking for in an urban market. It has the right population in terms of numbers, and it has great numbers of millennials, which are a sweet spot for our business,” Poplawski said.
“Folks working in the high-rises and 24-hour hospitals and other things in urban environments need that place to touch down, get a cup of coffee, a smoothie, a great Wawa built-to-order hoagie, and there are very few places in the District that can fit that bill,” he said.
An urban Wawa is not a new concept for Pennsylvania-based Wawa. It has more than a half dozen convenience stores in Philadelphia proper.
Wawa plans to open between five and 10 convenience stores in the District in the next two years, and dozens eventually, but hasn’t said what other locations it is considering.
“There are a lot of great neighborhoods in D.C. that fit the bill, and in the next 30 days or so we will release a couple of new locations. There is just so much opportunity through the neighborhoods in D.C.,” Poplawski said.
Wawa is not a bad place to work.
The company offers generous benefits, including more than $5,200 a year in educational assistance, and employees have a stake in Wawa, though an employee stock ownership program.
Wawa has 750 convenience retail stores Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida. More than 500 offer gasoline.
