Wawa is leaving the city. The Wawa at the corner of 20th and Chestnut is going to be closing at the end of the month, and I have it on good authority that the others will close when their leases expire. Which means that a) they are turning their backs on some of their most loyal customers and that b) the spokewoman I spoke with a couple of months ago when I did a story on the Rittenhouse Wawa was less than truthful with me and in, turn, Philadelphians when she said that they weren’t leaving the city.
“This is not the beginning of a pullout of Center City Wawa’s,” said Bruce, who disputes rumors that the company is focusing on building Super Wawas, which are larger and include gas pumps. -Philadelphia Metro 2/27/2008
Really? Six of ten pulling out of Center City since 2000 and no new ones being built is not a “pullout”? (I guess technically she is correct, since the pullout began in 2000.) I will never eat at a Wawa in the burbs or get gas from one, and I highly encourage you to do the same. Screw Wawa. We in Center City have loyally supported them for years, and they return the favor by dumping us and lying to us while doing so. P.S. I say this not because I hate Wawa but because I have come to really love it and depend on it and I am sad and frustrated to see it go, especially this way.