Storm Damaged Wawas to Reopen in Spring

AVALON- The Wawa store here and others in beach towns damaged by the high waters of Hurricane Sandy will reopen in the spring.
Wawa did not request funding from FEMA to rebuild its damaged stores, according to Wawa spokesperson Lori Bruce.
“We have not raised the floor height, but we have relocated and raised mechanical systems on the store’s exterior,” she said in an email.
According to a press release, Wawa teams have been working to reopen storm damaged stores, completely renovating and rebuilding them in some cases, and most will now feature Wawa’s newest design prototype. Six of the stores are expected to all resume operations by the end of March 2013.
“A cross functional team at Wawa has been working to get the Hurricane Sandy impacted stores up and running as soon as possible,” said Sal Mattera, vice president of store operations. “From ordering new equipment to sourcing local contractors to obtaining the necessary permits to make the renovations happen, our team has been focused on getting the remodels started and our stores reopened.”
In addition to reopening, most of the impacted stores will receive new features and designs incorporated into their renovations.
The upgraded features include:
* New food service layout and food service innovations including built-to-order milk shakes and in-store roll baking ovens
* All interior components brought up to new brand standards – including new tile throughout food service and beverage area
* Newly designed Express Cases
* All cabinetry and refrigeration cases upgraded and replaced
“We are doing everything we can to speed this process up and give our customers back their Wawa,” said Mattera. “We know our customers count on us and we are so grateful for the patience they’ve shown this far. We wanted to ensure that we were able to take the time to enhance our customers’ experience at these stores.”
To thank customers for their patience, when the stores reopen, a 10-day promotion is planned for each one. These promotions include: free coffee-any size, a $2.99 Shorti – any variety, 89 cent fountain drink – any size.
In addition, Wawa will further its ongoing commitment to aiding in the local relief effort by making a $1,000 donation per store to the Feeding America Food Bank located in each specific community.
The Food Banks include the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean counties and the Community Food Banks of New Jersey, Egg Harbor Township and Hillside branches, and will help to further restock their pantries.
Ocean City Wawa store 949 on 34th Street was scheduled to open this week and Ocean City store 728 on West Avenue on Feb. 28.
The Avalon Wawa is under construction and scheduled to open March 7.
Bruce said the layout of the store was being reworked to better manage customer flow in the summer months.
For the most up-to-date status of these stores visit: Wawa.com.