Community Corner

Wawa Grand Opening Scheduled for May 8

The chain has locations in and around Tampa Bay.

Attention, Wawa fans.

Wawa Inc. announced the grand opening of its sixth store in the greater Tampa Area at 401 N. Dale Mabry Highway, just north of Kennedy Boulevard.

To mark the occasion, Wawa will hold a grand opening celebration at 10 a.m. on Wednesday May 8 at the new store, 401 N. Dale Mabry Highway. Beginning in  February, Wawa officially entered the Tampa market, opening five stores in five weeks time.

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The grand opening of its sixth Tampa Area store continues Wawa’s expansion throughout the Sunshine State, as Wawa is set to open 14 additional stores in Florida before year’s end - four in Tampa, and 10 in Orlando.

During the grand opening event, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn will be in attendance along with local officials, members of the Big Brother Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, local heroes, and community members for a ribbon cutting ceremony, sampling of Wawa products and a charitable hoagie building competition featuring the Tampa Fire Department vs. the Tampa Police Department.   

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“Our launch into the Tampa market was met with open arms by our customers, and we couldn’t be happier than to continue to provide more and more Tampa area residents with the convenience and the community partnerships our customers have come to rely on us for,” said Wawa President and CEO Chris Gheysens.

Wawa’s sixth Tampa grand opening marks Wawa’s seventeenth store in the state of Florida, with 11 in Orlando six in the Tampa area. For the remainder of 2013, Wawa will open 14 additional stores in the state of Florida, 10 in Orlando and four in Tampa. In 2014, Wawa plans to open 25 stores in Central Florida, 14 in the Tampa Bay Area and 11 in Orlando.

By the end of 2014, Wawa will have 56 stores in Florida, 32 Orlando and 24 in Tampa. Throughout the Orlando and Tampa markets, Wawa projects it will open 100 stores in the next five years.

During the event, Wawa will speak about their new partnership with Big Brother Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, which will include a $10,000 grant which will fund 10 matches for the program.

"We are thrilled to welcome Wawa to the West Tampa community," said Stephen Koch, President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. "We know there are so many children who truly need a mentor, and thanks to this new partnership with Wawa, we will be able help more kids stay on the right path."

Do you plan to go to Wawa? Have you been to one before? Tell us in the comments.


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