2025 Category Excellence in Overall Partnership: Wawa Inc. & Mars Wrigley
No one likes to see prices go up, but when Wawa and Mars Wrigley faced price increases that challenged buyer trips and decreased unit sales, they used that as motivation to stir their creativity and use store space in innovative new ways.
Starting with peg risers, the companies added six inches of merchandisable space at eye level, or six additional peg items for every three feet of space. This bumped Wawa's future consumption candy business up 5% last year, five times that of the convenience channel.
Mars Wrigley Senior Customer Manager Mike Sullivan proposed the idea of peg extenders and worked closely with Wawa Category Manager Mike Tosi and the operations team to develop the rack prototype. They also collaborated to optimize SKU mix and product placement. The project significantly expanded merchandisable space, allowing the retailer to enhance the shopping experience for its customers through an expanded assortment and optimized merchandising.
In the latest 26 weeks, Wawa saw future consumption candy grow 9% and units grow 6%, compared to -0.3% and -4%, respectively, for total U.S. performance.
Click here for the full winners' list for the 2025 Convenience Store News Category Excellence Awards.