Could Wawa finally be opening in Pensacola? Details coming soon on Panhandle expansion.

Kevin Robinson, Pensacola News Journal

January 13, 2023 at 1:04 PM·1 min read

Around the country, people go gaga for Wawa, and soon people in Pensacola may get the chance to see why.

Representatives of the beloved chain of gas stations and convenience stores are hosting an invite-only "community day event" in Pensacola on Feb. 2 to provide an update on an upcoming expansion into the Florida Panhandle.

The event announcement notes Wawa will be "breaking ground in 2023 and opening stores in the Florida Panhandle in 2024."

Wawa officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry on whether Pensacola is one of its planned expansion sites. However, the chain announced in April 2022 that it plans to open up to 40 stores between Tallahassee and Mobile, Alabama, by 2024, fueling speculation Wawa will eventually find its way to the Pensacola area.

Wawa, the fan favorite convenience store chain, is planning a "community day" in Pensacola to discuss a planned expansion into the Florida Panhandle.

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A statement on the company's website notes, "Site approvals can take several months, or longer. We normally do not confirm a location until construction begins. We believe this helps avoid disappointment if a planned location doesn’t meet our needs."

For the uninitiated, Wawa is a family-owned chain of over 980 convenience, retail and food service stores that have cultivated a cult following for clean restrooms, great customer service and quality food. This year Forbes ranked Wawa #12 in their Halo 100 list of brands that consumers love.

Founded in Pennsylvania in 1964, Wawa took the Northeast by storm, expanding into New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The chain opened its first Florida store in Orlando in 2012 and has been spreading across the state since.

In spring of 2022, Wawa reported it was on pace to open its 250th store in Florida later that year, and that it employed almost 10,000 associates across the Sunshine State.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Wawa convenience store chain talks expansion at Pensacola event