Ribbon Cutting, Big Crowd Welcomes New Wawa In Buckingham Township

BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — Wawa pulled out all the stops on Thursday morning to celebrate the opening of its newest store on Easton Road in Buckingham Township.

Free t-shirts to the first 100 customers, complementary coffee throughout the day, a ceremonial ribbon cutting and a hoagie building challenge were just a few of the highlights that greeted the new store, which will service northern Doylestown and adjacent areas of Plumstead and Buckingham townships.

A long line of customers greeted the new store, stretching around the new building as the clock ticked down to 8 a.m., the official opening of the new store.

Kris Gigliotti of Warrington was the first customer in line. He is joined by Wally Goose in line.

Wawa's mascot, Wally the Goose, joined Paul Calderaio, chairman of the Buckingham Township Board of Supervisors, in officially opening the doors and welcoming the store's first customers inside.

"This is a great addition to Buckingham," said Calderaio, adding that it fits in with the redevelopment of the industrial area of the township. "Already you can see it's changing over. New businesses are moving in and the addition of the Wawa is going to drive that change. It's already looking better than it was."

The celebration continued with Wawa's signature Heroes for Hoagies challenge that pitted the volunteers of the Doylestown Fire Company No. 1 against the Buckingham Township Police Department in a hoagie-building contest.

Both agencies put their hoagie-making skills to the test as they raced against the clock to build the most hoagies in three minutes.

Buckingham Township Police Officers compete in the hoagie-making contest.

Doylestown Fire Company No. 1 raced through the hoagie-building contest to win the contest.

The Doylestown Fire Company No. 1 celebrates its big win

When it was all said and done, the volunteer firefighters had claimed victory and won the prestigious Wawa hoagie-building trophy, but no one left empty handed. Wawa presented both organizations with a $1,000 donation.

The store capped off its celebration with a ceremonial ribbon cutting as store leaders raised a ceremonial coffee toast to its associates.

"When our first convenience store opened in 1964 in Folsom our founder envisioned a business filled with people not just profits. Since day one and 1,000 stores later our 45,000-plus associates are committed to fulfilling lives everyday," said Wawa area manager Charles Evans.

"Some people might wonder how a convenience store has a mission of fulfilling lives. For us, the answer is simple. It's because of our people. It plays out in all the stores across the company thousands and thousands of times a day. Simple gestures like morning chatter that helps restart a customer's tough morning to a store team throwing a birthday party for a regular customer to the ultimate commitment of a store associate visiting a long time customer in the hospital to bring them their favorite soup.

"These things happen all the time, all over the chain," said Evans. "It's because of these small acts of kindness that I'd like to think of ourselves as a kindness chain rather than a convenience store. Starting today you can count on our associates to brighten your days so let's raise our cups and give our cheers to our associates led by this store's general manager Curtiss Stires. Cheers to you all."

As confetti flew through the air, Stires cut the ribbon on the new store. He was joined by Paul Calderaio, chairman of the Buckingham Township Board of Supervisors, a representative from U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick's office, and the store's associates.

Welcoming the newest Wawa to Buckingham Township. (photo by Jeff Werner)

The new store is equipped with a built-to-order, fresh food kitchen featuring its signature hoagies and newest food innovations such as the ever-popular burger; award-winning Wawa coffee; the Sizzli (Wawa's hot breakfast sandwich); Wawa's new line of specialty beverages; the Wawa Bakery; and Wawa's beverage line of dairy products, juices and teas, plus packaged goods and fuel services, among other amenities.

Wawa plans to open 76 new stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and Florida in 2023. The grand opening of the new Doylestown (Buckingham Township) store marks the 13th store to open among the chain’s six-state operating area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The chain also announced its future expansion to the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, with more details on those new locations to be shared soon.