Beloved convenience store chain Wawa closes 1st store

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio (Washington, D.C.): Beloved convenience store chain Wawa closes 1st store

The East Coast convenience store chain Wawa is closing its first shop.

The long-planned move was made official Friday, when Store No. 1 outside Philadelphia closed. A new, larger store is open nearby.

Grahame Wood established the original outlet in Folsom, Pennsylvania, on April 16, 1964. The company now has more than 645 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.

Wawa is beloved by many in the mid-Atlantic. A couple once got married in one, and actress Ellie Kemper has called it one of her "most enduring relationships."

[ET21]

I'm sure the whole town took the day off to commemorate the closing

[SteveG1988]

To be honest, the store in the photos looks modernized. Like most of the wawas that are being closed to be moved to a location that allows fuel sales.

[SteveG1988]

[Roadrunner75]

The early photo of the original Wawa reminds me of my first Wawa experience.  Long before they popped up all over New Jersey, there was an early one in Somers Point on Route 9.  I remember going there for the deli counter with my grandparents who lived nearby probably in the very late 70s/early 80s.  It was small like the Folsom location - probably of the same design, but I thought with a brown exterior (although I was young and could be wrong).  They later updated it, and I read recently that they finally closed it and moved it nearby to a new location with the gas pumps.

[SteveG1988]

IT is weird that in the earlier photo, less tobacco ads.

[GCrites]

People cooked a lot more at home then, so they were probably pushing what sold the best. There were also a lot more avenues for advertising cigarettes other than in-store then as well.