Wawa, a family-owned chain of more than 1,000 convenience retail stores, shared details on its expansion into the state of Kentucky for the first time during its two-stop Community Partnership Day Tour in the state.
The details on Wawa’s Kentucky expansion were announced at two Community Partnership events on September 26 in Louisville and Lexington. According to the press release, these events were intended to officially introduce Wawa to the community and allow Wawa leaders to connect with the community as well.
Event attendees also got a glimpse of new store design renderings and had the opportunity to hear the Wawa story, Wawa’s offerings and Wawa’s commitment to its new Midwest region communities. Wawa encouraged guests to enjoy a Taste of Wawa, including samples of freshly made hoagies, freshly brewed coffee and other handcrafted beverages as it debuted its new Wawa Community Care Beverage Vehicle.
“We are excited to welcome Wawa to Louisville, and we look forward to working with them as they open multiple locations across our city,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
Wawa’s expansion into Kentucky includes plans to open approximately 40 stores across the region over the next 8-10 years with the first construction beginning in mid-2024. So far, Wawa has more than 15 sites under contract across Boone, Bullitt, Fayette, Hardin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby and Warren counties. These projected stores are currently making their way through the permitting and approval process, and Wawa will announce specific locations and estimated timing for the first store openings in Kentucky once these processes are complete.
The first store locations are projected to open by mid-2025, with plans to open up to 10 locations that year, five additional stores in 2026 and five stores each year thereafter. Wawa teams continue to look for sites throughout the market.
“We were thrilled to share our ‘flight plan’ for Kentucky and reveal, for the very first time, our exciting expansion plans, renderings and more with our newest soon-to-be neighbors!” said Joe Collins, director of store operations for Wawa. “We can’t wait to begin putting shovels into the ground next year! As we get closer to our grand openings in 2025, we will be sharing even more details on our growth in Kentucky and connecting with more customers, communities, partners and non-profit organizations that together make this such an incredible region to be a part of!”