Montgomery County’s first Wawa, located at 405 S Frederick Ave (355) in Gaithersburg, held their grand opening on Mar. 7. The festivities began at 7:45 a.m. with the Wawa general manager doing the honors of counting down the moment when the doors open for the first time at 8 a.m., with free “In My Wawa Era 60th Anniversary,” T-shirts for the first 100 customers.
The newly added Wawa is liked by fans because of the expansive food options they have to offer, specifically their big, hoagie-style sandwiches that you can order via touch screen. Wawas are also famous for customer service, scrupulously clean bathrooms, decent gas prices, free air for your tires and no-charge ATMs. They’re a comforting presence for travelers and a community hub for neighborhoods. This year Forbes ranked them #12 in their Halo 100 list of brands that consumers love. “The new Wawa is just somewhere I can go for food now because they also serve things like smoothies, hoagies, breakfast, sandwiches and waffles,” sophomore Aidan Green said.
The new addition adds to the variety of options students can choose from to get food, gas and snacks. Previously, students were limited to places like Fallgrove which has Chipotle, Moby Dick, Wingstop, Jersey Mike’s and the newly added Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream. “The new Wawa adds cool new things that I couldn’t get before. When I see Wawa on road trips it’s always so cool to visit and get food and now I have one local,” sophomore Blake Graham said.
The Wawa was welcoming to customers who came to the grand opening. The first 100 customers to attend were given T-shirts and were welcomed in with workers waiting for them, cheering them on through the inside of the main entrance. “Opening day was fun for me. They gave out a lot of free things and I was able to meet people like the mayor, fire chief, and police chief, which ended up being an all-around good experience,” Green said.
Customers were invited to participate in a brief ceremony with remarks about the impact Wawa has on its community, a “Hoagies for the Heroes” hoagie-building competition between police and fire departments, and an official ribbon cutting with Wally Goose.
Wawa is an American chain of convenience stores and gas stations originating in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and now located along the East Coast of the United States, operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida.
Wawa and their associates continuously seek out opportunities to make them the best neighbors they can be, according to their website. “I could really tell how great of a company they really are by how welcoming they were on opening day,” senior Landon Silbert said.