Article by: Monty Zickuhr | Jax Daily Record | To view the full article, click here.
Pennsylvania-based Wawa Inc. is opening two Jacksonville gas station and convenience stores in August.
The grand opening of the Wawa at 8742 Baymeadows Road is 8 a.m. Aug. 24 followed by a ribbon-cutting at 8:30 a.m., the company announced in a news release.
The 6,119-square-foot store is at southeast Baymeadows Road and Baymeadows Way west of Interstate 95.
As part of the opening, Wawa will hold its Hoagies for Heroes hoagie-building competition. First responders from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Police Athletic League will compete to see who can build the most hoagies in three minutes. Wawa will donate $1,000 to each department’s charity of choice.
Tremaine Hendrick is general manager for the store, which will have about 50 employees.
The Baymeadows store will feature free coffee until Sept. 3.
A second Wawa is planned to open Aug. 31 at 970 Cassat Ave., west of Normandy Village.
The 1.5-acre site is at Normandy Boulevard and Cassat Avenue.
Wawa said it will have opened 14 stores in Jacksonville since 2017. Wawa also has two stores in St. Johns County and one in Orange Park.
The chain says it plans to open 76 stores in the mid-Atlantic region and Florida in 2023.
Additional Wawa stores are in development in Northeast Florida:
• A 6,000-square-foot convenience store and gas station at Duval and Pecan Park roads in North Jacksonville. The site is 4.86 acres owned by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority at the Pecan Park Road entrance to the Amazon.com fulfillment center.
• A 6,200-square-foot store with 16 fueling positions at Wildlight in Nassau County. Jacksonville-based England, Thims & Miller Inc. is the civil engineer. The St. Johns River Water Management District also is reviewing the project, which is on 1.85 acres at Florida A1A and Homegrown Way and Daydream and Wildlight avenues.
• A 6,119-square-foot store at Race Track Road and Big Cypress Drive off of U.S. 1 in Grand Cypress in St. Johns County. Cuhaci & Peterson of Orlando is the civil engineer.
• A 6,119-square-foot store at County Road 210 and Beachwalk Boulevard in St. Johns County. Cuhaci & Peterson is the civil engineer.
Wawa has said it plans to open up to 40 locations in the area.
Editor Karen Brune Mathis contributed to this report.