By Maddy Anand, Packet Media Group
Wawa celebrated the grand opening July 10 of its Lawrence Township store at 2936 Brunswick Pike.
“We had about 25 customers waiting for the store to open its doors at 8a.m.,” said Jim Shortall, Wawa director of store operations. “It’s so nice to have the community’s support. It’s taken five years for this site to come to life.”
“It’s great to see not just great businesses coming in, but great community partners come in,” said Lawrence Township Mayor Cathleen Lewis. “I really think that between this and the renovations going on at the Lawrence Shopping Center as well as the new Ms. G’s site, this is the start of some great redevelopment that’s going to be going on in the business Route 1 corridor. So we’re very excited to have Wawa here.”
The Wawa location was previously a Ms. G’s.
Vice President of Legal Risk Management Michael Eckardt said that the company was excited to be in the community as well. “This has been an underserved community with fuel sites,” he said. This is the 241st store in New Jersey, but the first fuel store Wawa in Mercer County.
Mr. Shortall agrees and is excited about the competitive fuel prices. “We want the community to have access to more fuel brands,” he said.
The celebration included a ribbon-cutting, a visit from the Wawa mascot Wally Goose, free coffee and a hoagie-building competition between members of the Lawrenceville Police and Fire Departments.
The crowd cheered as the contestants frantically grabbed ingredients to build the most hoagies in just three minutes. The police department took home the Hoagies for Heroes trophy and bragging rights by just one hoagie, ending with a score of 31 to the fire department’s 30. However, both departments received $1,000 checks for a charity of their choice.
Focused on store design and speed, a system was employed for the new store that feeds to the middle including amenities they felt the community would appreciate such as a counter for quick tobacco purchase, ATMs, lottery machines and restrooms.
Another great win for the community is the 45 new part-time associate positions. Stephanie Lima, customer service associate, said being hired at Wawa was a great accomplishment for her. “I feel like we’re a family at Wawa. It’s a different atmosphere,” she said.
The night before the grand opening, the store held an event for the new associates and their families to try Wawa’s food and get to know each other. “It was awesome to have my family meet my Wawa family,” said Ms. Lima.
