With “We Are Family” playing and mascot Wally Goose dancing in the background, Philadelphia-area-based convenience store chain Wawa announced plans Wednesday to open 10 stores in Broward and Palm Beach counties by spring 2017.
The stores are expected to bring 350 to 400 new jobs to the two counties. Among their offerings are custom hoagie sandwiches, baked goods, gas and free Wi-Fi for customers.
“This is really exciting,” said Wawa president and CEO Chris Gheysens, at the groundbreaking for the West Palm Beach store, which is near Palm Beach International Airport and will serve as the flagship and training site for South Florida’s new stores. “I probably have passed this site a dozen times with my family while we were on vacation here.”
He expects the location to be especially good for Wawa because of its proximity to the airport and Interstate 95, he said.
Wawa had a second ground-breaking Wednesday in Pompano Beach, for its store off Sample Road and Federal Highway.
The company said it plans to open up to 50 locations in southeast Florida in the next five years. Gheysens said there will also be stores opening in Miami-Dade County, but those sites have not yet been selected.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams said, being from Philadelphia, he has visited many Wawa stores because of “the customer service and down-home friendly” atmosphere.
“Finally, we have people who will call a sub by its true name, a hoagie,” he said at the groundbreaking in West Palm Beach.
In business since 1964, the company opened its first Florida store four years ago outside of SeaWorld in Orlando. It now has 92 stores in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers, with a total of about 3,500 employees in the state.
Gheysens said Wawa has been opening 40 to 50 new stores a year. The company chooses locations that have high traffic, at an intersection or near a major road or highway.
Despite recent growth, Wawa was No. 14 on the 2016 list of Top 101 convenience store chains, ranked by store count by CSP Magazine, which reports on the industry. Dallas-based 7-Eleven tops the list, followed by Circle K and Speedway.
Gheysens said 35 to 40 employees are hired for each store, with starting pay at $10 an hour. Store managers make $90,000 to $100,000 a year, he said.
Employees own about 41 percent of privately held Wawa through an employee stock ownership program, which allows them to save for retirement.
Wawa had 2015 revenue of $9.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
New stores opening in spring 2017
In Broward:
Stirling and Davie roads in Davie
Sample Road and Federal Highway in Pompano Beach
Broward Boulevard and 27th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale
U.S. 441 and Loxahatchee Road in Parkland
Commercial Boulevard and Northwest 94th Avenue in Sunrise
Belvedere Road and Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach
Lake Worth and Jog roads in Greenacres
Lake Worth Road and Congress Avenue in Lake Worth
Forest Hill Boulevard and Congress Avenue in Palm Springs
Blue Heron Boulevard and Garden Road in Riviera Beach
