Wawa to open replacement for first store

Nearly two years since announcing its plans, Wawa will officially relocate its original store Friday.

Store #1, which opened on April 16, 1964 on McDade Boulevard in Folsom,Delaware County, will move up the road to a brand-new location at McDade and Kendron Avenue. Its original location will formally close its doors to the public at 8 a.m. Friday, and the new “super”storelocation will officially open at the same time, the Delaware County Daily Times has reported.

To commemorate the event, Wawa has planned a parade, complete with Wawa’s 1918 antique milk truck, local mascots and a band, to ceremoniously close its original store. The parade will continue along Second Avenue to the new store, about a half-mile away, where a host of events and guests will greet customers.

There, the Ridley Township Police Department and the Folsom Fire Company will face off in a hoagie-building competition as part of Wawa’s charitable Hoagies for Heroes contests. Ridley Township officers will be competing for a grant for the Anne E. Howanski Memorial Scholarship Fund, the fire company will be competing for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Pediatric Cancer Center.

Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of the Media, Pa.-based company,will deliver the opening remarks and lead a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders, an Eagles player and minor league baseball mascots will also be in attendance to sign autographs.

“The new store will also feature Wawa’s new, state-of-the-art store design as well as a number of historical tributes to the original Store #1, a photo timeline, and a digital tributes looking back on significant Wawa events and a selfie station/marker made of a replica of the original Store #1 pole sign,” the company announced in a press release.

All associates from the original Store #1 will relocate to the new location.

The parade begins at 7:30 a.m. Gheysens will deliver a speech at 8 a.m., and the hoagie-building contest and autographs will take place from 10 to 11 a.m.