Wawa to build more locations near Orlando
Convenience store and gas station chain Wawa Inc. has a pair of locations in the works: one in Ocoee and one in the O-Town West development in southwest Orlando.
The Media, Pennsylvania-based, privately held company, which has one area location under construction and the other in the planning stages, is known for its fresh and built-to-order hoagie sandwiches and other hot food, as well as a large selection of hot and cold coffee drinks. Each store build is expected to create about 150 jobs in construction and 30 permanent jobs, and costs to build the stores are about $5.4 million on average, according to sister newspaper South Florida Business Journal.
Why this matters: New store locations can create construction opportunities in the short term and add jobs in the long term.
Here’s more on the local stores in the pipeline:
* O-Town West: A 6,119-square-foot Wawa is under construction at Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s O-Town West mixed-use development at 7785 Palm Parkway. According to Wawa, the location will be one of eight in Florida to debut this fall. An exact opening date was not available.
* Ocoee: A Wawa location has been proposed at 9729 W. Colonial Drive in Ocoee on 3.39 acres. The project is set to go before the city’s planning and zoning commission for an amendment to the planned unit development/land-use plan for Ocoee Town Shops to allow the gas station use on the property.
Executives with Wawa were not available for comment.
Wawa, which does not offer franchises, plans to open 100 new stores in Florida over the next five years, including in new areas like the Panhandle. Wawa opened its first store in Orlando in 2012 and has grown to 10,000 employees and 250 stores in the Sunshine State, including 50 locations in Central Florida.
As of the start of 2022, there were 148,026 convenience stores operating in the U.S., down 1.5% from 150,274 at the end of 2020, according to the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Association of Convenience Stores.
The trade association found total U.S. convenience store sales reached $705.7 billion in 2021, including both food and fuel sales, up from $ 548.2 billion in 2020.
“The sales and performance metrics show that our industry is resilient,” Charlie McIlvaine, a member of the NACS Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement. “Our rapid adjustments to product assortment and the embrace of last-mile solutions allowed our industry to hold its own over the past few years, but to grow, especially market basket, is simply remarkable. While there are numerous headwinds facing retail in 2022, I am very optimistic about our channel’s future.”