Wawa Celebrates 'Mare of Easttown Day' as Part of Delaware County Store Grand Opening
WAWA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. dedicated its latest store opening as "Mare of Easttown Day" in support of the HBO Original series.
The convenience retailer celebrated the store opening at 418 W. Baltimore Pike in Upper Darby, Pa., at 8 a.m. on June 10 with free coffee and limited-edition Wawa Delco shirts for the first 100 customers, followed by an outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. with an official dedication to "Mare of Easttown Day."
As a Delaware County company that prides itself on bringing the community together, the grand opening gathered customers, local police and fire departments, healthcare heroes and store operations associates to celebrate the authenticity of the show as it depicts the culture and resilience of a community that stands by one another during good times and bad, and shines a light on everyday heroes who go to great lengths to serve their community, according to Pennsylvania-based Wawa.
To build on the local excitement, give back to the community and in appreciation of HBO's limited series, Wawa launched a limited-edition "Mare of Easttown Spicy Cheesesteak" at the grand opening. It will be available exclusively at its 42 stores in Delaware County for one week, up until June 17. Made on a Shorti roll and featuring beefsteak, cheddar cheese sauce and spicy cherry pepper relish, it is a nod to how spicy the show is, Wawa said.
As another element to the celebration, Wawa will formally present a check for $10,000 to Dr. Consuelo Cagande, chief of the division of Community Care and Wellness, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
With the show's commitment to raising awareness about mental health issues, the contribution will fund a web series designed to educate families and caregivers on how to identify behavioral health concerns in children from preschool age through college age through CHOP's Healthy Kids, Healthy Minds program. The initiative integrates behavioral health providers within primary care teams to provide behavioral health interventions in collaboration with pediatric primary care providers by using evidence-supported brief interventions.
"We are honored to be featured in local creator's Brad Ingelsby’s HBO show, Mare of Easttown, that kept you on the edge of your seat week after week and made Delaware County, including Wawa, proud," said Cathy Pulos, Wawa's chief operations officer, store operations, and a Delco native. "We couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate than bringing our local friends and neighbors to our quite timely Delco store opening to enjoy the specialty hoagie, talk about the show, and of course give back to the leading pediatric institute, CHOP."
Wawa also saluted everyday heroes by hosting its signature "Hoagies for Heroes" hoagie-building competition and presented a $1,000 check to each of the police and fire departments' charity of choice.
In addition to the grand-opening festivities, customers can follow @Wawa on social media channels during the promotion window of June 10-13 to share their favorite "Mare of Easttown" moment for a chance to win a Delco celebration fan kit with the limited-edition Wawa Delco T-shirt and a $25 Wawa gift card.
Wawa operates 920 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.