What do Wawa, NBC’s hit show “The Office,” and Princeton University all have in common?  Writer and actress, Ellie Kemper.  That’s right, Ellie Kemper who plays Dunder Mifflin’s receptionist on “The Office,” also happens to be a Wawa Fan, who developed her love of Wawa while attending Princeton University.

Recently Kemper wrote an article entitled "Ode to Wawa" for the Princeton Paw, pledging her undying love for Wawa and chronicling her journey from Wawa newbie to Wawa devotee.  In her article, Kemper writes:

How do I put into words one of the most enduring relationships I have in this world? I’m not sure I know. How do I come to terms with the fact that whenever I come back to Princeton, it is the Wa that I am happiest to see? I do appreciate Blair Arch, and smile politely at my former professors, and give my friends half-hearted hugs, but it is the Wa that holds my undying adoration…The Wa was my Cheers. It made me feel like someone was taking care of me; even though I was no longer at home, somebody still cared enough to make sure I had a hot dog before going to bed.”

Kemper touches upon a part of Wawa that separates us from the typical convenience store. In fact, I often say that Wawa strives to be the “Cheers of convenience retailers” — a place where everyone knows your name. To me, this is what differentiates our brand from all others – the customer connections our associates make that lead to loyalty for life.

I’m proud to say that Ellie is not alone in her love for Wawa. A few years ago, the article "Convenience Cult" was published in the New York Times, touching upon the passion our customers feel for our brand. Wawa fans show their undying love and adoration of Wawa through blogs, and online groups. Today we have more than a half million fans who follow our every move on Facebook.

Kemper’s article is a testament to the fact that our customers’ passion for Wawa extends long after they leave our stores. Our stores are places where customers create life-long relationships with our associates, and this is something we’re very proud of. Thank you, Ellie for your incredible Ode to Wawa. We are huge fans of The Office and hope to see you in our stores again soon!

‘Till next time…

A winter snow storm of impressive proportions blasted the Northeast last week, creating incredible sledding for snow lovers, but extremely tough conditions for travelers and for retailers, on what is usually the biggest shopping week right before Christmas.    It was one of those weekends that no one was truly ready for, and that I know our entire company will remember forever.  And while our memories will include the many cancellations of schools, holiday parties and events, the memory that will prevail most in my mind is the spirit of the Wawa team who worked through some very challenging circumstances to remain open and ready to serve their customers and our communities.

I was one of the many, who watched the weather reports in awe, as expected snow totals kept climbing and climbing. The massive snowstorm was burying cities from Washington to Boston under as much as 2 feet of snow, in the largest snowstorm to hit the region since February 2003. New York City saw totals of up to a foot. The governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency.  Washington, D.C., declared a snow emergency so that it could clear major streets and reduce mass transit service if necessary.
And at the end of the storm, the numbers were even more astounding!  December 19 became the snowiest December day on record in several Mid-Atlantic locations, including Philadelphia, PA with 22.5 inches, Baltimore, MD with 20.5 inches, and Washington, DC with 15.0 inches. Philadelphia (with 23.2 inches on December 19-20) experienced its second-highest single-storm total, behind 30.7 inches during a January 1996 event. http://www.cattlenetwork.com/National-Weather--Blizzard-Recovery--Record-Lows-In-The-West/2009-12-23/Article.aspx?oid=969910

With most of the stores in our five-state operating area encased in this winter wonderland, we had to jump into action as quickly as possible.  Our store teams plowed through to keep the coffee hot and the doors open for customers.  Only 12 of our 572 stores closed for a brief period of time.  How did they do it?  By following our Wawa values of doing things right, delighting customers, and having a passion for winning no matter what the circumstances may be.

So many efforts went into the great endeavor to keep our stores open.  It took planning from our weather crisis team to increase deliveries of vitals like bread, milk and rock salt in advance.   It took our supply chain carefully planning routes to keep stores in stock with both food and grocery products and gasoline.  It took field maintenance associates maintaining parking lots and keeping stores operating without a hitch.  It took our Call Center staff keeping everyone up-to-date on of all store statuses and helping solve everyone's problems.  And of course, it took our wonderful store associates who worked extra shifts and worked creative schedules to keep our store doors open, providing a welcome respite for customers, emergency workers, snow plow teams and others who worked hard to fight the conditions.

So when I think back on this December's snow event, while I'll remember our shock and surprise at a storm that caught the region by surprise before the calendar officially acknowledged the Winter season, what I'll remember most is the valiant efforts of our associates.  Thanks to them, we were able to provide vital service, a smile, and a warm cup of coffee, for people who count on us to be there for them.  I thank each and every one of them for creating a winter Wawaland even in the coldest and stormiest of days.

'Till next time...

Have you ever considered what it takes to serve one million customers daily?

When founder Grahame Wood opened the first Wawa store in 1964, he envisioned a new kind of convenience store that simplified customers’ daily lives with fast, friendly service, fresh products, and value prices. Today, one million customers each day have come to expect this brand promise when they frequent our stores and interact with our associates. A central theme for our associates this year is “doing it just a little bit better” – a slogan first introduced in 1981 after customers repeatedly told Wawa associates that their people, stores, and product were always a step above the competition.

To make sure we deliver on the expectations of our customers one million times per day, we have stringent quality control measures every step of the way, from selecting the right vendors, to supplying the highest quality products, to hiring the best associates. You’ve heard me say before that at Wawa we consider ourselves a tight-nit flock.  But it’s important to note that we don’t fly alone.  While our 16,000 associates are the most visible champions of our values and brand promise, we hold our network of suppliers and strategic partners to the same high standards. Whether the product is under the Wawa exclusive brand label or under our vendor partners’ name, we share the goal of delighting our customers and making their lives easier.  After all, it’s a team effort and they too play a critical role in simplifying the lives of both our customers and our associates.  

Last week we conducted our spring review of some of our direct store delivery partners and Wawa’s own internal support departments – we call this our Key Partner Review Process which we conduct twice a year. Our external vendor partners and internal support departments each received a report card evaluating their performance. Their reviewers: the General Managers responsible for daily operations at each of Wawa’s 570 stores. Through the evaluation, our General Managers provide valuable feedback to our partners and help better align our collective efforts to serve and delight our customers. It’s our way of ensuring we maintain meaningful, long-term relationships with our internal and external partners to simplify our associates' lives, strengthen our core offer and deliver on our brand promise time and time again.

Success in business today is predicated on effective relationships with numerous stakeholders – all of which are aligned and focused on our ultimate customer. Through the years, our key partners have helped us develop and improve on a multitude of new products, processes, and concepts that have given us the ability to serve our customers a little bit better through the years. So, the results are in and I’m proud to say that our partners are the best of the best, proof of which lies in the 90% or better satisfaction rating each of the participating vendors and departments received from our General Managers last week. Special kudos to our top external and internal partners at Tastykake and Wawa’s Facility Department - Fuel Equipment Repair Team respectively, who each earned 99% satisfaction ratings.  But the “keys” to the store go to our most improved vendor partner - Canada Dry.  Our valued partners at Canada Dry went the extra mile for their customers – our store teams – and they achieved an increase of 17.3 percentage points in overall satisfaction ratings since the last survey.  This level of improvement enhances our store teams’ ability to satisfy their customers, strengthens our partnership and will lead to many great achievements in the future. 

It takes a lot to serve one million customers each day, but through measures like our Key Partner Review, we can ensure that we have the best products, service, and people to consistently deliver our brand promise each and every time.  And through partnerships like the ones we’ve built over the years, we have faith that we will continue to fly higher and faster together.

‘Til next time…