Last week, on April 16, I was part of a very exciting milestone event for our company: the 45th anniversary celebration of the very first Wawa convenience store, which marked our company’s entrance into the convenience retailing business. And – what a celebration it was!
Hundreds of community members and customers joined our Wawa family in marking
the anniversary of our flagship store in Folsom, PA, on a perfect sunny Spring day.
The event included Wawaversary songs, dances led by our mascot Wally Goose and his all-kazoo, toddlers and grownups alike posed with Eagles cheerleaders in front of our antique Wawa milk truck, and customers consuming free hoagies, Wawa drinks, Tastkake treats, and ice cream as quickly as volunteers could hand them out. Eagles mascot Swoop, Herrs mascot Chipper, and Tastykake’s Krimpet worked the crowd as tunes played from the WMMR tent.
WMMR’s, Preston Elliot, emceed the event, revving up the crowd and serving as referee of our hoagie building competition between the Ridley Township Administrative Offices and Ridley Township Police Department. The police ended up winning by just one hoagie, and we donated $2,000 on behalf of the contestants to benefit the Township of Ridley Police and Fire Memorial Foundation.
But this was more than just an excuse to throw a fun party. The 45th Wawaversary also honors our rich history in the communities we serve, recognizing our very special customers and associates for their loyalty and business over the years. That’s why we took a special part of the celebration to recognize milestone customers who have been frequenting the Folsom store since the day it opened. Preston presented each of these customers with a specially designed golden travel mug, filled with one month’s worth of free Wawa coffee coupons and a ceremonial key to the store.
On this momentous day, I couldn’t help but wonder: was April 16, 1964, as sunny and perfect? Then I realized I could just ask Marrianne LeFrance, one of the milestone customers we honored at the event who watched from her porch as the first Wawa Food Market opened up right across the street from her. And she’s been a loyal customer ever since. Then there’s William Wasson, who worked behind the deli counter in the late 60s and early 70s and still frequents the store daily with his remarkable pet bird Tiki. And we can’t leave out Dan, or Smitty or Larry – those guys have come to Store 1 five days a week for the last 25 years and are treated like family.
For me, the 45th Wawaversary also gives us time to reflect on our evolution as a company and look back at how far we’ve come. As I’ve said before, Wawa’s history dates back to 1803 — first as an iron foundry, then as a dairy, and ultimately as a convenience store chain. And while the stores might look totally different today, we still embrace that same spirit of innovation and dedication to simplifying the lives of our customers. We’re a company that embraces innovation and over the past 45 years in particular we’ve introduced a number of changes to simplify the lives of our customers. To name a few, we added freshly brewed coffee in 1975, expanded our food menu to include hot items in 1981, installed ATMs with no surcharge in 1995, and opened the first Wawa with a full-service gasoline offering in 1996. (For a look back at Wawa’s journey over the years, view our digital photo collection now on display with the Hagley Library and Museum here.) Hagley even created a special 45th Anniversary digital exhibit to mark this occasion.
Even as we continually seek to redefine convenience and expand and improve our offering, our greatest strength has and will always be the incredible associates who work at Wawa. They’re there to put a smile on your face, and they’ll do whatever they can to make Wawa a home away from home. They’re always there for the one million customers who keep coming back daily.
So happy Wawaversary, and thanks to all the members of our extended Wawa family for making this very special day possible!
‘Til next time…
Media Coverage of 45th Anniversary:
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/43084837.html
Delaware County Daily Times
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/04/17/news/doc49e7ea948252e549544301.txt
Convenience Store News
http://www.csnews.com/csn/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003961837