Douglass (Mont.) >> Anyone headed north on Route 100 through Montgomery County today will have a new place to fuel up – on gas and refreshments.
Wawa opened its newest store at 111 Grosser Road at 8 a.m. Friday. As it is with all new Wawa store openings, the celebration will include fanfare, free coffee (through August 16) and several grand opening specials. In addition, there will be a charitable hoagie building competition between members of the Gilbertsville Fire Company and Douglass Township Police.
Grand opening festivities begin at 10 a.m. Friday, according to a press release, and will include local and state officials, Wawa officials, associates and customers and Wawa’s mascot, Wally Goose.
The Wawa SurPrize Patrol will be on hand – showering customers who have downloaded the Wawa app – with coupons, gift cards or other prize items on the spot.
At 10:15 a.m., the Hoagies for Heroes competition was held – a hoagie building competition featuring the Gilbertsville Fire Company and Douglass Township Police facing off in a battle of sandwich-making expertise. Each team was challenged to see who can build the most hoagies in three minutes. Wawa will present checks on behalf of the winning and runner up teams for $1,000 to the charities of their choice.
“We are thrilled to bring the Wawa experience to the residents of Gilbertsville, and we look forward to demonstrating our commitment to fulfilling lives with our fresh food and beverages and with meaningful connections with our new friends and neighbors,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa president and CEO in a press release. “From building new connection points with Wawa Rewards to opening new stores in new communities, we’ve never been more committed to investing in our communities and fulfilling customers’ lives each and every day.”
Joelle Gotwals is general manager of the new store, which includes a team of nearly 45 associates.
The store is the 22nd Wawa to open in 2015. Throughout the year, Wawa plans open 50 new stores throughout its operating area, including 25 in the Mid-Atlantic market and 25 in the Florida market.
Wawa Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and “certified” process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960’s, Grahame Wood, George’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. A chain of more than 690 convenience retail stores (more than 435 offering gasoline), Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.
