Wawa the people: Chain eyeing location across from Independence Hall
In order to form a more perfect union, Wawa might set up shop across the street from where the United States of America was born.
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We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all convenience stores are not created equal, that one was endowed by its creator with certain inalienable gifts, that among these are shortis, sizzlis, and the pursuit of Hoagiefest.
The Philadelphia area's favorite convenience store chain, Wawa, is eyeing a new Center City location at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, across from Independence Hall.
On Monday, OCF Realty reported on its blog that a Wawa store was coming to the first floor of the Public Ledger building at the southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut. The article's author, who was not identified, claims to have seen a site plan for the building "that clearly shows a Wawa labeled on the drawing."
In response to a request for comment Tuesday, Wawa public relations manager Lori Bruce said via email: "We are very excited about the possibility of locating a store here, but we don't confirm plans until we are further along in the development process."
Carlyle Development Group of New York, which purchased the Public Ledger building in 2015, did not respond to requests for comment. Abdi Mahamedi, CEO of Carlyle, previously said he wanted to make the building "an environment with cool tenants" and "cool retail."
Well, it doesn't get much cooler than Wawa, which is so cool it serves many of its drinks frozen.
Given the area's fanatical devotion to the Delaware County-based chain, we expect a store at the historic location wouldn't cause a rebellion. In fact, it just might entice more tourists from out of town to join the army of devoted Wawa fans, allowing the revolution to spread.