Royal Farms Moves Onto Wawa’s Turf

RIDLEY, Pa. — Delaware County mainstay Wawa Inc. will soon face a new convenience store competitor. Baltimore, Md.-based Royal Farms will open a store here at 105 Stewart Ave. across from a Boeing complex on Jan. 12, marking its first location in the area, reported the Delaware County Daily Times.

"We selected this location because of our desire to expand our presence into other markets where opportunities exist for us to build new stores,” Royal Farms Marketing Manager Ed Stronski said in a statement. “In order for us to continue to grow our company, we must look into other areas where we currently do not have stores and Ridley is one of those areas that we selected.”

Royal Farms is not stopping there, either. The retailer is undergoing the land development process to build a second c-store in Delaware County, Pa. This store would be located at Meetinghouse Road and Route 452 in Upper Chichester, spanning 5,700 square feet with 16 gas pumps, according to the newspaper.

Despite competing with Wawa head-on at both locations, Stronski told the news outlet that Royal Farms is different in many ways.

“First and foremost are our ‘World-Famous’ Royal Farms Chicken and our Western Fries that our customers love," he said. "The chicken is fresh, never frozen, and hand-breaded right in our stores using our unique blend of spices. Our fresh, hand-cut and hand-breaded Western Fries are made from Idaho potatoes.”

Stronski also noted that the new Royal Farms locations will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, lessening any environmental impacts.

In response to the new competition, Wawa Public Relations Manager Lori Bruce issued a statement saying that Delaware County is Wawa's "hometown. We've grown up here for more than 50 years and we cherish the community where so many of our associates work and call home. And that's always been our true competitive advantage — our people."

Royal Farms operates approximately 160 convenience stores in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania.