Wawa Needs To Get Their Shit Together
If you clicked on this post then you know what Wawa is. Depending on who you are and where you're from, Wawa probably means something different to you. It might represent great memories of touchscreen ordering buffalo chicken sandwiches on the way to the shore, or maybe it's your introduction to Philadelphia as an out-of-towner. From before-dawn coffee to late night jalapeno cheddar hot pretzels, it represents something to a lot of people.
But whoever you are, wherever you're from, wherever you met Wawa, I can guarantee it is at a worse spot than that first introduction. Wawa is in a free fall and they need to figure shit out.
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The most recent evidence of the downward spiral of the brand is the fact that the Wawa at Broad and Walnut is officially closing. When it was built, it seemed like that location was supposed to be a flagship store, the booming super Wawa right in the heart of town. It devolved into a hub for chaos at seemingly any time of the day.
I mean, read the headline in the tweet; "in 2018 store officials removed seating after there were two stabbings in one week." When your store is on pace for 100+ stabbings a year, it's pretty clear there's a problem.
But if the food was great, you would live with the stabbings. People got stabbed at the Paper Street Pub in Manayunk, but the bar was good enough to survive, so the nickname was changed to "Stabby's" and everyone kept coming. Wawa isn't built to withstand the stabbings.
The pre-made food is worse. The made to order food is worse. There are more options and they are sacrificing the quality that comes from having few locations for the uniform product they need now that they have storefronts in Maryland and Florida or whatever.
Honestly tell me, what would you order and enjoy from a Wawa touchscreen? Some slimy turkey on bread that would make the yoga mat Subway bread taste like an Amoroso roll? A flatbread? A wrap?? The only palatable item for me is the meatballs, which are literally just mystery meat ground beyond recognition.
The problem with Wawa is they are too successful to realize how much they suck. Everyone has heard that Wawa covers their expenses every morning in drink sales alone, and with their aggressive expansion and penchant for popping up gas pumps everywhere, they have no need to get good food ever again.
I've always beat the table for Wawa in the Wawa vs Sheetz debate, but by now that's more just for city pride rather than it being something I actually believe. Not that Sheetz is good either, but at least they embrace the fact that they're greasy trash with their burgers and fries. Wawa pretends it's this higher class, cleaner option, when in reality they're just a 7/11 with a sandwich station.
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Clean it up.