WAWA, Pa., April 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wawa, Inc. today announced that in honor of its 54th anniversary in convenience retailing, this year’s Wawa Day will be held on Thursday April 12, and Wawa will celebrate the occasion by offering customers free coffee, chain-wide, all day! Throughout the day, Wawa expects to give away 2 million free cups of any-size coffee to customers at its more than 790 stores across PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, FL and Washington DC. This year’s April 12th Wawa Day celebration gives Wawa the chance to toast the community with free coffee, while celebrating its 54th anniversary, the fourth anniversary of The Wawa Foundation and the achievement of Wawa and The Wawa Foundation’s initial donation goal.
In April of 1964, Wawa entered the retail business when it opened its first convenience store. In April of 2014, Wawa celebrated its 50th anniversary in convenience retailing and marked the milestone with the first Wawa Day event and the launch of The Wawa Foundation, a 501c (3) non-profit organization founded to encompass most of Wawa's charitable giving. At its inception, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation set a goal to donate $50 million to causes supporting health, hunger and everyday heroes by 2018. During its 2018 Wawa Day celebration, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation are pleased to announce that they have met this goal as of early 2018, and over the past four years have donated $50 million to causes surrounding health, hunger and heroes throughout Wawa’s operating area.
“Wawa Day is a great day for us to all pause and thank the millions of customers we’ve served over the past 54 years who have made us an integral part of the communities we serve,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa President and CEO. “This year’s Wawa Day is particularly special because we are also celebrating that, in just over four years, through Wawa and The Wawa Foundation, we have supported thousands of non-profit organizations and achieved our goal of donating $50 million by 2018. We could have never done this alone, and thank all of our customers who gave generously to our in-store campaigns and who make everything we do possible. Happy Wawa Day everyone and cheers to you all!”
In addition to giving away an expected 2 million free cups of coffee to our customers chain-wide, Wawa will be celebrating the millions of magical moments that happen at Wawa each day with in-store digital tributes featuring photos of some of the many “Day Brighteners” at Wawa that embody the unique relationship between Wawa associates and customers.
About Wawa, Inc.
Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, PA in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and “certified” process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for its dairy products. Today, Wawa is your all day, every day stop for freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs. A chain of more than 790 convenience retail stores (over 600 offering gasoline), Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington DC. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice 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. In 2016 and 2017, Wawa was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s Best Large Employers, a survey-based ranking of employers offering the best associate experiences and strongest opportunities. In 2017 Wawa was the recipient of a Silver Plate Award in the category of Retail & Specialty Foodservice by the International Foodservice Manufacturers’ Association during their 63rd Annual Award Event.
CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com