Wawa Opens Vienna Location With Tesla Electric Chargers

VIENNA, VA — Wawa, a convenience store with a dedicated fan following, opened its Vienna location Thursday at 465 Maple Avenue West.

The 24-hour store held its grand opening at 8 a.m. with a socially-distant ribbon cutting and will offer free hot coffee for 10 days. Led by General Manager Peter Van Cleave and Area Manager Nate Bates, it will employ about 40 associates.

"At Wawa, our core purpose is to go beyond filling orders to Fulfilling Lives and we’re excited to join the Vienna community to provide resources, job opportunities and community support," said Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of Wawa.

The 6,290-square-foot location offers prepared food such as hoagies, salads, soups and hand-crafted beverages; a self-service coffee bar, packaged goods, and accessible public restrooms. Delivery service is available through third party partners such as Door Dash and Uber Eats. Located at the corner of Maple Avenue and Nutley Street, the store has entrances from both streets.

Vienna's store has a few differences from the traditional Wawa store. Instead of the usual gas station, there are eight Tesla electric car chargers. Bates said electric chargers will also be added to Wawa's Sterling location.

The Vienna location is Wawa's first retrofit of an existing building. The location was home to a Coldwell Banker office and had been vacant before Wawa moved in.

As an essential business providing food and other supplies, Wawa has taken precautions during the coronavirus pandemic. That includes temperature checks, face masks and gloves for employees; floor markings for social distancing in checkout lines; plastic safety guards at food service and checkout counters; hand sanitizer stations; and wipes for touch screen ordering stations.

Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert made the first ceremonial hoagie in a preview event before the store opened. In a promotional video, she noted the store's convenient location and proximity to James Madison High School.

"It's a 24-hour business, which is great because our essential workers will be able to come here," she said. "They follow all the safety precautions...and they are so friendly."

The store is donating $1,000 from first week sales to the Capital Area Food Bank. It is also providing "Hoagies for Heroes" for the Vienna Police Department, Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, and Fairfax County Dire and Rescue Department, as well as donating $1,000 each to a charity of each department's choice.

All Wawa stores are collecting donations for United Service Organizations to support military and their families until July 19.

The store has already established a bond with Amphora Bakery, a fellow Maple Avenue business. The bakery made a model cake featuring Vienna landmarks and Wawa favorites for the September 2019 groundbreaking. Amphora Bakery displayed the cake in its Vienna and Herndon locations between Wawa's groundbreaking and grand opening. Because the cake is actually made of styrofoam, Bates said the store will seek a permanent location to display the cake.

Wawa is under contract to open three additional Northern Virginia locations on undetermined dates. These include Fairfax Boulevard and Spring Street in Fairfax City, Davidson Place and Sudley Road in Sudley, and Pacific and Nokes Boulevards in Sterling. It aims to open five to ten stores in Virginia each year for several years.

For more information about Wawa, visit www.wawa.com.