A winter snow storm of impressive proportions blasted the Northeast last week, creating incredible sledding for snow lovers, but extremely tough conditions for travelers and for retailers, on what is usually the biggest shopping week right before Christmas.    It was one of those weekends that no one was truly ready for, and that I know our entire company will remember forever.  And while our memories will include the many cancellations of schools, holiday parties and events, the memory that will prevail most in my mind is the spirit of the Wawa team who worked through some very challenging circumstances to remain open and ready to serve their customers and our communities.

I was one of the many, who watched the weather reports in awe, as expected snow totals kept climbing and climbing. The massive snowstorm was burying cities from Washington to Boston under as much as 2 feet of snow, in the largest snowstorm to hit the region since February 2003. New York City saw totals of up to a foot. The governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency.  Washington, D.C., declared a snow emergency so that it could clear major streets and reduce mass transit service if necessary.
And at the end of the storm, the numbers were even more astounding!  December 19 became the snowiest December day on record in several Mid-Atlantic locations, including Philadelphia, PA with 22.5 inches, Baltimore, MD with 20.5 inches, and Washington, DC with 15.0 inches. Philadelphia (with 23.2 inches on December 19-20) experienced its second-highest single-storm total, behind 30.7 inches during a January 1996 event. http://www.cattlenetwork.com/National-Weather--Blizzard-Recovery--Record-Lows-In-The-West/2009-12-23/Article.aspx?oid=969910

With most of the stores in our five-state operating area encased in this winter wonderland, we had to jump into action as quickly as possible.  Our store teams plowed through to keep the coffee hot and the doors open for customers.  Only 12 of our 572 stores closed for a brief period of time.  How did they do it?  By following our Wawa values of doing things right, delighting customers, and having a passion for winning no matter what the circumstances may be.

So many efforts went into the great endeavor to keep our stores open.  It took planning from our weather crisis team to increase deliveries of vitals like bread, milk and rock salt in advance.   It took our supply chain carefully planning routes to keep stores in stock with both food and grocery products and gasoline.  It took field maintenance associates maintaining parking lots and keeping stores operating without a hitch.  It took our Call Center staff keeping everyone up-to-date on of all store statuses and helping solve everyone's problems.  And of course, it took our wonderful store associates who worked extra shifts and worked creative schedules to keep our store doors open, providing a welcome respite for customers, emergency workers, snow plow teams and others who worked hard to fight the conditions.

So when I think back on this December's snow event, while I'll remember our shock and surprise at a storm that caught the region by surprise before the calendar officially acknowledged the Winter season, what I'll remember most is the valiant efforts of our associates.  Thanks to them, we were able to provide vital service, a smile, and a warm cup of coffee, for people who count on us to be there for them.  I thank each and every one of them for creating a winter Wawaland even in the coldest and stormiest of days.

'Till next time...

Have you ever considered what it takes to serve one million customers daily?

When founder Grahame Wood opened the first Wawa store in 1964, he envisioned a new kind of convenience store that simplified customers’ daily lives with fast, friendly service, fresh products, and value prices. Today, one million customers each day have come to expect this brand promise when they frequent our stores and interact with our associates. A central theme for our associates this year is “doing it just a little bit better” – a slogan first introduced in 1981 after customers repeatedly told Wawa associates that their people, stores, and product were always a step above the competition.

To make sure we deliver on the expectations of our customers one million times per day, we have stringent quality control measures every step of the way, from selecting the right vendors, to supplying the highest quality products, to hiring the best associates. You’ve heard me say before that at Wawa we consider ourselves a tight-nit flock.  But it’s important to note that we don’t fly alone.  While our 16,000 associates are the most visible champions of our values and brand promise, we hold our network of suppliers and strategic partners to the same high standards. Whether the product is under the Wawa exclusive brand label or under our vendor partners’ name, we share the goal of delighting our customers and making their lives easier.  After all, it’s a team effort and they too play a critical role in simplifying the lives of both our customers and our associates.  

Last week we conducted our spring review of some of our direct store delivery partners and Wawa’s own internal support departments – we call this our Key Partner Review Process which we conduct twice a year. Our external vendor partners and internal support departments each received a report card evaluating their performance. Their reviewers: the General Managers responsible for daily operations at each of Wawa’s 570 stores. Through the evaluation, our General Managers provide valuable feedback to our partners and help better align our collective efforts to serve and delight our customers. It’s our way of ensuring we maintain meaningful, long-term relationships with our internal and external partners to simplify our associates' lives, strengthen our core offer and deliver on our brand promise time and time again.

Success in business today is predicated on effective relationships with numerous stakeholders – all of which are aligned and focused on our ultimate customer. Through the years, our key partners have helped us develop and improve on a multitude of new products, processes, and concepts that have given us the ability to serve our customers a little bit better through the years. So, the results are in and I’m proud to say that our partners are the best of the best, proof of which lies in the 90% or better satisfaction rating each of the participating vendors and departments received from our General Managers last week. Special kudos to our top external and internal partners at Tastykake and Wawa’s Facility Department - Fuel Equipment Repair Team respectively, who each earned 99% satisfaction ratings.  But the “keys” to the store go to our most improved vendor partner - Canada Dry.  Our valued partners at Canada Dry went the extra mile for their customers – our store teams – and they achieved an increase of 17.3 percentage points in overall satisfaction ratings since the last survey.  This level of improvement enhances our store teams’ ability to satisfy their customers, strengthens our partnership and will lead to many great achievements in the future. 

It takes a lot to serve one million customers each day, but through measures like our Key Partner Review, we can ensure that we have the best products, service, and people to consistently deliver our brand promise each and every time.  And through partnerships like the ones we’ve built over the years, we have faith that we will continue to fly higher and faster together.

‘Til next time…
 

To be a leader in convenience, you’ve got to be willing to try new things.  That’s why change and innovation are among Wawa’s founding principles, and why we’ve continued to experiment and advance for more than four decades.

Sometimes the product of change is a new idea that takes our business to the next level. Just take a look at our Touch Screen ordering at the food service area which increases accuracy and improves speed of service, our surcharge-free ATM’s that epitomize “value,” and the addition of gasoline, which creates a true one-stop shopping experience. For Wawa it was our commitment to innovation that produced these concepts and redefined our customer experience.

Not every experiment breeds a formula for success.  But it’s these instances that lead to valuable lessons learned and often create future innovation.  For example, customers in the1960s might not have been ready for our initial attempts to offer items like meatloaf and fish and chips, but our customers of today have embraced similar recipes from current Wawa Kitchens, and items like Wawa Dinner Bowls have helped reinvent meals from Wawa.  Carrying Lottery tickets taught us another lesson - that speed of service is paramount.   Customer’s told us “don’t do anything to slow us down,” and we listened.   That’s why we took out money orders as well.

The most important lesson we’ve learned is that sometimes the greatest innovations are born of things you’re already doing. We’ve learned our customers like our brand — and we’ve listened when they’ve told us to “do what you do so well.”  That’s what inspired Wawa to launch a whole new level of food service brands — the Shorti, Junior, Classic hoagies, more hot foods, soups, sides and a hot breakfast.

This leads us to our latest lesson.  Recently, we made a decision to discontinue two new concepts:  Drive-In service at two Virginia stores (effective April 30), which allows customers to order through a remote device without having to enter the store; and texting, a way to pre-order food through text messages or online. In both cases, customers showed us that they cherish their connection with our associates, and they’re happy with our core offer.  Even though we intended to give them a more convenient way to order and purchase products, it’s clear our customers prefer their personalized in-store experiences, and truly value the ability to shop, browse and interact with associates.

After all, it’s people that make Wawa go round. And we’re proud of that. We’re proud to be such an important part of our customers’ daily routine. And that’s what we’ll continue to do.

That doesn’t mean we’re shrugging off our commitment to constantly explore new ways to heighten the customer experience and make the core of convenience even stronger. We’ll never let go of our child-like enthusiasm which helps keep us and young and fresh.  It drives us to take risks and try new things, ultimately keeping our business focused on change, innovation and relevance to our customers.  Times change, and we’ll continue change with them — our customers deserve that.

‘Til Next Time…