Once Again Wawa Continues Looking a Customer Ahead

 

The old adage ‘keep your eye-on-the prize’ comes to mind every time we hear Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® talk about Wawa.   There is no company that Johnson speaks more highly of than Wawa, time and time again.  In every case he refers back too Wawa’s relentless ability to continue ‘looking a customer ahead’. 

Here once again is just another look at what foodservice industry leadership looks like according to Johnson. So, Wawa began hosting EV charging at its first store in 2017 as regular readers of this blog know. By the end of May, 202, Wawa expects to exceed 1,000,000 EV charging sessions by the end of May, program to date.

Get this, Wawa announced a chainwide milestone of reaching its 50th electric vehicle (EV) charging site across its entire six-state operating area.  So, Wawa officially marked the 50th site milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the grand opening of its newest store at 505 NE Highway 19, Crystal River, Fla., which happens to also be the first Florida store to open live with EV charging, whereas other EV chargers were added to existing stores in Florida.

So far, only two other stores in the chain, based in Vienna, Va., and Doylestown, Pa., opened live with EV charging. Wawa hosts Tesla Superchargers, and EVgo and Electrify America CCS and CHAdeMO EV chargers. To date, Wawa offers EV charging at 47 locations hosting Tesla Superchargers and three locations hosting CCS and CHAdeMO EV chargers. By the end of May, Wawa expects to exceed 1,000,000 EV charging sessions program to date.

Wawa Chief Real Estate and Fuel Officer Brian Schaller, stated, “Wawa is proud to reach its 50th site hosting EV charging to date, with the purpose of providing “boundless convenience,” for friends and neighbors seeking access to food, beverages and EV charging at one destination,” … “Our continued growth demonstrates our commitment to innovation, sustainability and our continued desire to meet the needs of our customers.”

Regular readers remember that Wawa Inc., began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey and has continually evolved with consumers. Are you Looking A Customer Ahead?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

At Wawa, Record Growth Signals Success

Success does leave clues Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated that Wawa’s growth is customer driven and a clear signal to the food industry that Wawa is exceeding consumer expectations delivery an industry leading price, value, quality, service promise.

Filling in the white space between New Jersey and Florida, Wawa will open 40 stores in northern Virginia over the next 15 years, with the first of these stores set to open in April 2020. Wawa announced plans this week to open 40 stores in northern Virginia over the next 15 years, with the first set to open in Vienna, Va., in April 2020.

The 40 planned stores in the market are expected to bring 2,000 jobs. Wawa excels at looking a customer ahead and customer facing relevance. So, new stores will be around 6,290 square feet with seating areas and will feature Tesla Charging Stations for up to eight cars.

Wawa has been undergoing a massive expansion, with plans to open a record 63 stores in 2019, that close to a $500,000,000 investment in 2019 alone on new stores according to Johnson.

For those of you not on the East coast, Wawa operates more than 870 convenience retail stores (over 600 offering fuel) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The stores offer a large grocerant niche fresh food selection, including Wawa brands such as custom prepared hoagies, freshly-brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, specialty beverages and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Repositioning Sheetz sets sights on Evolving Success

Foodservice Solutions®, Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson stated “ Joe Sheetz and his team understand the undercurrents driving retail customer migration and that is why Sheetz was one of the first convenience stores to focus on grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepare food.

The consumer is dynamic and Joe Sheetz and his team know that their company must be dynamic as well.  Millennials are embracing a ‘green’ economy and Sheetz is edifying it’s customer relevance with Millennials according to Johnson by installing Tesla's Superchargers at some locations that enable Tesla’s Model S and Model X cars to charge within minutes.

CS News reported that The discussions between Sheetz and Tesla Motors to add electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to the Altoona-based convenience store retailer’s sites began in June 2016. During this time, Michael Lorenz, Sheet’s executive vice president of petroleum supply, did not reveal how many Sheetz locations could be outfitted with Tesla chargers.

The c-store retailer already has several locations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina where EV owners can charge their non-Tesla vehicles. Sheetz joins Wendy's fast food restaurant in Somerset and Cranberry Township Residence Inn in becoming a Western Pennsylvania business offering Superchargers according to CS News.

Tesla stated that it is actively recruiting corporate partners as it seeks to double its charging network across the country, the news outlet reported. “We started 2017 with over 5,000 Superchargers globally and by the end of this year, Tesla will double that number to total more than 10,000 Superchargers and 15,000 Destination Charging connectors around the world. In North America, we'll increase the number of Superchargers by 150 percent, and in California alone, we'll add more than 1,000 Superchargers,” Tesla stated.

Is your company Looking A Customer Ahead? Is your company wining in the fuel race? Is your company wining in the grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food space? Why not?  What are you waiting for?  Success does leave clues and Joe Sheetz and his team have left you another clue.  What are you going to do with that clue?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant