Yesterday, I had the good fortune of joining together with Pennsylvania Governor Rendell to announce some exciting news: by spring 2011, customers will be able to purchase lottery games and tickets at any of our Pennsylvania stores. Through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Lottery, we are installing self-serve Play Central Terminals in all of our PA stores that offer instant tickets and online games, like Powerball, through an easy touch screen system. In fact, you may have already seen or used these kiosks: we installed them in 20 stores as a pilot program in May and will have them in 85 Pennsylvania stores by the end of this year. (Photo courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services.)

Some of our longtime customers may recall that we’ve been down this road before. In response to demand from our customers, we’ve experimented with traditional lottery programs throughout the years. Our early attempts taught us that our customers on the go want to get in and out of our stores quickly. Although demand for lottery tickets was high, customers didn’t want to be slowed down when jackpot values climbed high. So, we listened to our customers.

At the same time, we continued to hear from those customers who, unable to satisfy their lottery needs at Wawa, expressed frustration at having to make a separate trip for it. We’ve struggled over the years to provide the added convenience of lottery ticketing at our stores without interrupting our fast, hassle-free shopping experience. Thanks to a culture committed to change and innovation and to a wonderful partnership with the Pennsylvania Lottery Commission, we’ve now developed a solution that brings the lottery to our PA customers without compromising our value proposition and commitment to simplifying our customers’ lives.

And so, it was with great anticipation that Governor Rendell and our mascot Wally Goose joined me at our Philadelphia Wawa store at 11th and Arch Streets in revealing the Instant Win Prize in an oversized lottery ticket: “Lottery Coming to all Pennsylvania Wawa Stores by Spring 2011.” After many years, many changes, and significant time listening to our customers, we are now able to say, “Stop at Pennsylvania Wawa stores for your Pennsylvania lottery games and tickets!”

‘Till next time…