Wawa is a chain of convenience store/gas stations, mostly in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, although the chain has now expanded into Virginia as far as the Hampton Roads, throughout the entire Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.

Most are open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The chain's name is derived from the Lenape word for the Canada Goose in flight, which is also the corporate logo. April 16, 1964, Wawa Food Markets opened their first store in Folsom, Pennsylvania under the guidance of Grahame Wood (the current Chief Executive Officer, Richard Wood , is Grahme Wood's nephew). In 2004, Wawa ranked 72nd on the Forbes 500 list of the largest private companies. Wawa is a family-run business; however, the employees of Wawa hold a relatively large percentage of stock. Wawa sells millions of cups of coffee a year. It is known for its competetive cigarette prices and unique, always-growing menu of hot and cold deli choices. Wawa currently has 13,000 employees, 542 stores (142 with gasoline) and raked in a tidy $2.8 billion dollar revenue in 2003. In recent years, many Wawa Markets have been expanded to "Super Wawas", with 12-20 gas pumps. All new Wawas constructed are of the "Super Wawa" variety.

Wawa is headquartered in Wawa, Pennsylvania .

Wawa Culture

The Wawa in Princeton, NJ has become a legend among townspeople and college students alike. The rush hour at this Wawa, or "the Wa" as it is known, is between 1am and 4am, when many students stumble in for late night food.

Water Authority of Western Australia

Interestingly the Water Authority of Western Australia was also known as WAWA, before it was split and renamed in 1996. They used the same corporate logo on a blue background, with the bird being a black swan.

External links

• Wawa's official site