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…

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

Last week, our guest blogger, Don Price talked about the many ways in which our Associates make magic for our customers and communities each and every day.  This was evident at a wonderful event last week, when the team from our store #344 in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey was recognized by the National office of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for excellence in Sneaker Sales. 

Every Fall, we participate in JDRF’s annual sneaker sales campaign, encouraging our customers to buy a $1 paper sneaker at check-out to support diabetes research. You probably recognize the signs of our support through the bright sneakers hanging in all of stores.  Our Mount Laurel team took this commitment to the next level, selling more sneakers than any other store, contributing to a total Wawa contribution of $370,000! Even in challenging economic times, the dedication of our associates and generosity of our customers is helping bring JDRF that much closer to a cure!

JDRF National Walk Director, Mike Malekoff, www.jdrf.org, attended the award ceremony, along with local chapter director, Steve Blocher, and dozens of children and their parents from the community who are affected buy juvenile diabetes. Mike and Steve recognized the store team for their passion and commitment to selling one sneaker at a time — which can be the hardest, but most important aspect of fundraising. 

At Wawa our associates are keenly aware that almost 24 million Americans have diabetes, of which 3 million are affected by juvenile diabetes. I remember when we began our efforts on behalf of JDRF over 20 years ago, and I can’t forget how passionate our associates were about finding a cure from the beginning. 

Today, more than several million dollars later, I am so proud of the Wawa team and the many associates who give their all to help find a cure for juvenile diabetes — associates like Wawa’s Store Operations Services Senior Director, Sal Mattera, for example.  Sal is our lead JDRF goose as the Wawa Chairperson for our JDRF activities.  Sal continues to honk from behind the effort to encourage the Wawa flock to keep up their speed each year for JDRF. 

Sal won't be satisfied until a cure is found. Neither will Vicki, an associate from store 344 who asks every customer who walks through the door to buy a paper sneaker.  JDRF parent, Donna Bell, came to last week’s event with her daughter Evey to thank Vicki, and all the store associates for raising awareness about the importance of finding a cure.

Donna told a story of shopping at Wawa while her daughter was at dance class.  One day she walked in as Vickie was suggesting a sneaker sale to a customer, and she couldn’t help but walk over, thank her and share the story of her young daughter being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  Vickie hugged her, and the two formed an immediate bond.  Vickie is now the top sneaker seller in her store, and she’ll tell you that it's all for the children.  It's a little thing she can do that really adds up and makes a big difference to the future of so many children.

Sometimes convenience shines through in other ways than speed of service or product offer. Our sneakers sales are an example of how we make it convenient for millions and millions of customers to easily make a contribution to their local chapter of JDRF.  What makes it all possible across our family of stores, are associates like Vickie and her team at #344, who go the extra mile to answer questions, talk to customers, and handle their donations. Of course, it’s also made possible by our customers who so generously give from the heart.  They all prove that every person who walks into our store is part of our Wawa family.  And we hope to continue to walk and walk until every person has a sneaker and creates that final step to finding a cure.

‘Til next time…