Wawa is continuing to grow with three new locations planned for New Jersey and two more pending approval. Wawa’s website shows that a Wawa at 210 Monmouth Rd. in Chesterfield Township and 2671 Route 206 in Mount Holly will open in the Winter of 2022. Another is planned for spring 2022 at 74th St. & Tonnelle Ave. in North Bergen.
A Super Wawa at Route 73 and Kresson Road in Voorhees received zoning board approval in a 5-2 vote, according to 70 and 73. Some residents spoke at the meeting to express their concerns over traffic and traffic safety. While Wawa has grown a cult-like following, not everyone is happy to have them as their new neighbors.
The website 70 and 73 also reported neighbors being miffed about a proposed Wawa that received planning board approval near White Horse Pike at Route 30 and the crossroad at Waterford-Blue Anchor Road and are suing the Township in response. In addition, members of the Preserve Barclay Group in Cherry Hill are looking to fight plans for a new Wawa, citing an overabundance of Wawas in a concentrated area. Some also criticized the company’s practice of hiring developers to apply for approval to build locations. The developers will build the location, then rent them out to Wawa.
The first Wawa was opened in 1964 in Folsom, PA. The first New Jersey store came in 1968, followed by the first Delaware Wawa in 1969. Wawa now has more than 750 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida and has been called “as familiar to the Pennsylvania landscape as scrapple and Tastykakes.” Food and Wine went as far as to call Wawa not just a convenience store but “a lifestyle.”
