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Wawa in gator country

Why Philadelphia's favorite hoagie-smokes-Cokes-gasoline store chain is adding stores in Tampa and Orlando

Wawa, the Delaware County-based chain of 600 convenience stores from central NJ to Virginia, is building seven new stores in Florida this year, and plans 50 by 2014.
Boss Howard Stoeckel says the chain will cater to hoagie-hungry Philly expatriates, tourists and others in the Tampa and Orlando areas; hemmed in by competitors like Scheetz in the Midwest and QuikTrip in the mid-South, Wawa (owned by the Wood family and its own employees) is "leapfrogging" to new territory, using current suppliers like McLane and building a new regional network beyond Amoroso country.
Wawa plans 28 new stores up this year, up from 10-12 at the bottom of the recession. More in my Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer column here.