Wawa Completes Its Sunshine State Entrance for 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Three months after welcoming customers to its first Florida store, Wawa Inc. is ready to throw open the doors on its sixth location in the Sunshine State.

The latest convenience store in the retailer's Florida portfolio is located at 7030 S. Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. Next week's grand opening of its sixth store will complete Wawa's 2012 expansion into the Orlando market -- and into Florida. Expansion efforts will pick up again in 2013, according to the company.

To mark the newest location, Wawa will hold a grand opening celebration on Oct. 30. The festivities will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, a sampling of Wawa products and a charitable hoagie building contest featuring the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Orange County Fire & Rescue. Local officials and members of the JDRF’s Central Florida Chapter will also be on hand at the event, according to the company.

"2012 has been an extremely exciting year for all of us at Wawa and we couldn’t be happier about the success of our entrance into the Sunshine State," said Wawa President Chris Gheysens. "We are so glad to be a part of the Orlando community and couldn't be prouder to officially call the sunshine state our new home and the customers our new family."

Additional stores under construction in the Orange County and Orlando area set to open in 2013. They include one store each in Apopka and Orlando which will open in January; one store in Winter Park slated to open in the first quarter of 2013; and stores in Kissimmee, Oviedo, Lake Mary and St. Cloud in the second quarter.

Wawa will also begin to open its first stores in Tampa next year. All total, the Pennsylvania-based retailer plans to open 25 stores throughout the Orlando/Tampa markets in 2013, 24 stores in the markets in 2014 and 24 stores in 2015. Wawa projects to open 100 stores the Orlando/ Tampa markets within the next five years.