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[roadman65]

I see the Wawa food chain that operates out of Chester County, PA that has stores throughout Delaware, Maryland, parts of New Jersey, PA, and VA will move to a new market area in Florida.  One I know will open across from Sea World on Central Florida Parkway in Orlando, and the other (that I have seen) is going up on John Young Parkway and Silver Star Road. 

I heard 300 stores will open in the Sunshine State.  7 eleven will have strong competition as I heard from many South Jersey residents that Wawa kicks ass and I know for fact that their gas is one of the most cheapest in Virginia along the I-95 corridor.

Does anyone have experiences with this chain?  Is it as good as they say and better than 7 eleven? 

[Takumi]

Wawa's not bad, but Sheetz is better.

[realjd]

Because if there's one thing we really, really need here it's more gas stations and convenience stores! Yay! Now 7-11, CircleK, RaceTrac, Kangaroo, and all of the hundreds of generic gas station stores will have some real competition! It's not like they all sell the same sodas, beer, lottery tickets, and beef jerkey or anything. And it's not like people choose them based on what's closest or anything.

[flaroads]

I was introduced to their coffee brand by Alex and his sister December 2008 and have been hooked ever since. The flavors I have tried are all pretty good (smooth and rich in taste and quality). In fact I have a bag of their coffee in my kitchen pantry and some at work. Every time I am in that part of the country, I always choose going to WaWa over other stores (for gas, coffee, etc.) As far as their deli sandwiches, I have not tried any yet, but I have friends who live near WaWa's that say they are really good as well.

If I had my choice of convenient stores and knew that a WaWa was near by, I would choose it over everything else. It will definitely be a stop I make next time I am in central Florida, even if its just for a cup of coffee. 

[Ian]

I'm fortunate to be in walking distance of two Wawa's and their HQ over in Lima. Hope you enjoy them, Florida 

[hbelkins]

Wawa's not bad, but Sheetz is better.

Agreed. I find Wawa's food selection to be limited when compared to Sheetz.

[realjd]

Wawa's not bad, but Sheetz is better.

Agreed. I find Wawa's food selection to be limited when compared to Sheetz.

So wawa has only 3 brands of beef jersey and 2 types of gas station frozen burritos then? Or is their chip aisle is 6 inches shorter?

I really don't get convenience store loyalty, although I will give a few of the 7-11's around here credit for stocking a small selection of craft beer. CircleK's walk in beer coolers are neat, but it's full of the same, generic beer as anywhere else, just in larger quantities.

[Takumi]

Both Sheetz and Wawa have a made-to-order food section, with subs, hot dogs, breakfast, etc, but Sheetz has more items on its menu (pizza, wings with choice of sauce) and I personally like the taste better. They also started a loyalty card program recently that saves a few cents on gas and gains access to special deals on food or coffee. I'm not sure if Wawa does that yet or not.

Edit: There's a whole topic about Sheetz here.

[Steve]

Because if there's one thing we really, really need here it's more gas stations and convenience stores! Yay! Now 7-11, CircleK, RaceTrac, Kangaroo, and all of the hundreds of generic gas station stores will have some real competition! It's not like they all sell the same sodas, beer, lottery tickets, and beef jerkey or anything. And it's not like people choose them based on what's closest or anything.

+7: Insightful and sarcastic. You made my morning.

[KEVIN_224]

You forgot Speedway! I stopped in their places when visiting Columbus and Indianapolis. I had a Wawa across the street from my Philadelphia hotel in Center City recently, too.

I'm fairly certain that there were a couple of Wawa stores here in Connecticut until the early 1990s or so. We had one close to Central Connecticut State University in New Britain and one in Newington on Kelsey Street, very close to the New Britain city line. I think some other former locations became Krauser's, one of which is on Main Street in East Hartford.

[NE2]

Isn't wawa the fail trombone sound?

[hbelkins]

Isn't wawa the fail trombone sound?

No, that's wawawaaaaaaa

[US71]

Because if there's one thing we really, really need here it's more gas stations and convenience stores! Yay! Now 7-11, CircleK, RaceTrac, Kangaroo, and all of the hundreds of generic gas station stores will have some real competition! It's not like they all sell the same sodas, beer, lottery tickets, and beef jerkey or anything. And it's not like people choose them based on what's closest or anything.

Circle K has better fountain specials than Kangaroo or Tom Thumb/Kroger.

[formulanone]

Because if there's one thing we really, really need here it's more gas stations and convenience stores! Yay! Now 7-11, CircleK, RaceTrac, Kangaroo, and all of the hundreds of generic gas station stores will have some real competition! It's not like they all sell the same sodas, beer, lottery tickets, and beef jerkey or anything. And it's not like people choose them based on what's closest or anything.

Exactly.

The biggest problem in Florida was that many gas stations disappeared in the wake of the changes to the underground storage tanks. Sometime in 2006 or so, some law was enacted to make sure nothing was leaking into the ground. Many owners just nixed their sites altogether, even sites that seemed to have plenty of traffic.

If they pick up some if those old sites, then I'm all for it...some of them have become eyesores. On the other hand, corporations on the up and up prefer new sites, for that clean, streamlined look that bears the company fascia and logo specifications/dimensions yada yada...

[realjd]

Circle K has better fountain specials than Kangaroo or Tom Thumb/Kroger.

All the gas stations around here will fill just about any size cup for around $1.00, give or take a quarter. I regularly take my 50-some ounce "X-treme Gulp" thermos mug from 7-11 and fill it at the CircleK near where I work.

[US71]

Because if there's one thing we really, really need here it's more gas stations and convenience stores! Yay! Now 7-11, CircleK, RaceTrac, Kangaroo, and all of the hundreds of generic gas station stores will have some real competition! It's not like they all sell the same sodas, beer, lottery tickets, and beef jerkey or anything. And it's not like people choose them based on what's closest or anything.

Exactly.

The biggest problem in Florida was that many gas stations disappeared in the wake of the changes to the underground storage tanks. Sometime in 2006 or so, some law was enacted to make sure nothing was leaking into the ground. Many owners just nixed their sites altogether, even sites that seemed to have plenty of traffic.

If they pick up some if those old sites, then I'm all for it...some of them have become eyesores. On the other hand, corporations on the up and up prefer new sites, for that clean, streamlined look that bears the company fascia and logo specifications/dimensions yada yada...

I saw lots of abandoned/re-purposed older stations in Pensacola last week. I saw a few Circle K's that appeared to be older stations, but Tom Thumb, Raceway, etc were all spiffy & shiny like new builds.

[Alex]

I saw lots of abandoned/re-purposed older stations in Pensacola last week. I saw a few Circle K's that appeared to be older stations, but Tom Thumb, Raceway, etc were all spiffy & shiny like new builds.

There are a surprising amount of them that failed because of new policy formulanone cited about underground storage tanks. A few continued to operate the convenience store aspect of the station, but those eventually succumbed to lack of business, leaving abandoned businesses dotting US 98, Florida 87, etc.

As for Wawa, I grew up with them, and almost preferred them when they did not have the gas pumps standard at every store (which makes them a madhouse at times now). Nothing more would take care of a 2 am craving for food then a made-to-order Wawa sub. I am not sure how their food is now, but in the 90s and early 2000s, it was quite decent.

[florida]

There's a third one going up at the triangle of Hoffner/Narcoossee/Old Goldenrod/New Goldenrod. I'm excited for it because it's something new. Kangaroos are usually dirty. Mobil has merged with 7-11, leaving me with no more Nilla Wafer Cappuccino. BP/ampm is okay. Circle K is blah. This leaves Racetrac as usually the only place where I stop.

[realjd]

There's a third one going up at the triangle of Hoffner/Narcoossee/Old Goldenrod/New Goldenrod. I'm excited for it because it's something new. Kangaroos are usually dirty. Mobil has merged with 7-11, leaving me with no more Nilla Wafer Cappuccino. BP/ampm is okay. Circle K is blah. This leaves Racetrac as usually the only place where I stop.

But they all sell the same junk...

[florida]

I don't care about the junk they sell, it's always the coffee stand that gets my attention.

[realjd]

I'm not much of a coffee guy, and when I do drink it I drink it black, but for my money, the best quick coffee is at Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. Gas station coffee never really did it for me. Is theirs somehow different?

[formulanone]

If I'm driving around in northern climates in cold weather, then coffee at gas stations makes sense, especially after standing in place for five minutes while the tank fills up. But in Florida, that's rarely an issue...typically, I'll have a cold energy drink to get my caffeine fix.

[Michael]

Wawa's not bad, but Sheetz is better.

My first thought when I saw this thread was Sheetz vs. Wawa.  I've only ever been to Sheetz (it was really good!), but there's already a Sheetz thread.

Isn't wawa the fail trombone sound?

No, that's wawawaaaaaaa

See http://www.sadtrombone.com.

[roadman65]

If I'm driving around in northern climates in cold weather, then coffee at gas stations makes sense, especially after standing in place for five minutes while the tank fills up. But in Florida, that's rarely an issue...typically, I'll have a cold energy drink to get my caffeine fix.

I still like my coffee no matter how hot the weather is.  I will,, though, drink less in Summer, but need my charge from that.  Energy drinks do not interest me as much as it does most people.  Nonetheless, cannot wait for them to open this July!

[formulanone]

I suppose I should note that between my home, hotel, workplace, and the airplane, I've usually had my fill of coffee just about any day of the week!