Dive Brief:
- Wawa has begun construction on a convenience store in Fairhope, Alabama — its first in the state, according to a Baldwin County, Alabama, news report. The store will be located at the corner of Twin Beech Road and Highway 98.
- Wawa announced its plans to expand to Alabama in April, but did not originally disclose the location. It said then the first stores would open in 2024.
- Numerous c-store chains across the country this year have revealed plans to enter new regions as part of their growth plans, signaling an increased priority in new market expansion around the industry.
Dive Insight:
Earlier this year, Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens told the Philadelphia Business Journal that the company is in the midst of “the most aggressive growth” in its history and that it plans to nearly double its store count by 2030 to about 1,800 locations. Days later, Wawa revealed its original plans to expand to Alabama — as well as the Florida Panhandle region — in 2024 and to open 54 new stores this year.
Additionally, in June, Wawa disclosed plans to open a store in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2025 — its first location in the state, which may have up to 40 locations in the future, the company said. Just weeks after that, Wawa announced plans to expand its footprint in Central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River.
Wawa’s expansion plans are among a spate of new builds in the industry focused on entering additional markets.
Since expanding outside of Texas in 2019, Buc-ee’s has opened travel centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. This summer, Buc-ee’s opened a new site in Springfield, Missouri, and revealed plans to expand to Colorado in 2024. Also this summer, EG America debuted its first Cumberland Farms stores in the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama, while QuikTrip opened its first c-store in Colorado around the same time.
