Community Welcomes Wawa to Reisterstown

While some residents initially scoffed at the idea of another gas station and convenience store on Main Street, Councilwoman Vicki Almond is welcoming with open arms.

“When you bring in something like this, the rest of the community either steps it up or doesn’t,” she said. “I think you’ve got to look at competition as a good thing.”

She hopes the addition of the Wawa, which opens Friday at 8 a.m., will prompt surrounding Main Street businesses to remodel, revitalize and revamp.

Almond, along with several other local officials and residents, were treated to lunch and a tour of the store Thursday.

“Anytime you can come into a community and hire 35 residents, that’s a big deal,” said Tony Baysmore, special assistant to County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

The 4,600 square-foot store features 12 gas pumps and will soon have nearly 45 employees. It will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company invested $5 million in the location, according to area manager Mike Davis.

It’s Wawa 300^th fuel store, and the 42^nd store in Maryland. It features two surcharge-free ATMs, Wawa brand dairy products like milk and ice cream, self-serve milkshakes and smoothies, a variety of coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, Wawa’s own brand of salads and sandwiches and made-to-order meals.

In addition to local officials, several community activists attended Thursday’s preview. , a lifelong resident of Reisterstown, likes that Wawa is family-owned and hired local residents.

Mary Molinaro, who sits the boards of the and Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon Coordinating Council with Reter, said she expects the community to embrace Wawa.

“It’s a very nice offering,” she said. “We’re trying to improve Reisterstown, so we’re looking for nice, clean, inviting places.”

Wawa, which has had a Maryland presence for 40 years, is still owned by the family that founded it about 200 years ago. The company also has stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. The company has 18,000 employees, 1,250 of which are in Baltimore, Davis said.

For tomorrow’s grand opening, Baltimore County Police officers and Baltimore County Fire Department members will compete in a hoagie-building contest at 10 a.m. The first 300 customers to enter the store will receive free coffee for a month, and coffee is free for the first 10 days the store is open.