county pennsylvania type private industry convenience store gas station fast food founded april 16 1964 ; 52 years ago 1964 04 16 folsom pennsylvania u.s. founder grahame wood headquarters chester heights pennsylvania u.s. number of locations 720 stores 1 key people chris gheysens ceo 2 products coffee hoagies prepared foods gasoline beverages dairy products revenue us 9.68 billion 2014 3 net income us 118 million 2011 4 total assets us 1.57 billion 2011 4 number of employees 22 500 2015 3 parent wild goose holding co. website www.wawa.com wawa inc. is a chain of convenience store gas stations located along the east coast of the united states . it operates in pennsylvania new jersey delaware maryland virginia and florida . 5 the company s corporate headquarters is located in the wawa area of chester heights pennsylvania in greater philadelphia . as of 2008 update wawa was the largest convenience store chain in greater philadelphia and it is also the third largest retailer of food in greater philadelphia after acme markets and shoprite . 6 7 contents 1 history 2 company 2.1 name and logo 2.2 leadership 2.3 holdings and locations 2.3.1 corporate headquarters 3 programs and promotions 4 advertising slogans 5 products 6 store locations 7 references 8 external links history edit old wawa logo used from 1990 to 2004 . this logo is still in use at many locations . the wawa business began in 1803 as an iron foundry . 5 in 1890 george wood a businessperson from new jersey 8 moved to delaware county pennsylvania ; it was here that he began the wawa dairy farm . 8 wood imported cows from the british island of guernsey and bought 1 000 acres 400 ha of land in the chester heights area ; 8 the corporate headquarters would later be renamed wawa . since pasteurization was not yet available many children faced sickness from consuming raw milk . wood arranged for doctors to certify his milk was sanitary and safe for consumption which convinced many consumers to buy the product . 8 the strategy worked and allowed the wawa dairy to grow . demand for dairy products grew rapidly during the 1920s and so did the company . wawa began using the slogan buy health by the bottle and served customers in pennsylvania and new jersey delivering milk to customers homes . in the 1960s however consumers began buying milk in stores instead of using home delivery . wawa started to open its own stores to adjust to these market changes . 5 8 on april 16 1964 grahame wood opened the first wawa food market at 1212 macdade boulevard in folsom pennsylvania 9 which is still in operation today . 7 the original wawa store will be closing with the construction of a new gas station location nearby that is expected to open in spring 2016 . 10 the wawa food market stores were also part of a then new trend in retailing the convenience store . open both earlier and later than traditional supermarkets they carried other foods and beverages besides milk as well as other items from the wawa dairy . the old wawa dairy farms building in wawa pennsylvania as of 1989 update wawa inc. and the wood family together controlled about 725 acres of land containing the corporate headquarters the wawa dairy farm and j.t. farms within two municipalities in delaware county pennsylvania . the properties are located in chester heights and middletown township . wawa inc. owns 50 acres of land around red roof the corporate headquarters 150 acres of land around the wawa dairy and the 225 acre j.t. farms . the wood family also owns 300 acres of estate property . its extensive land holdings have led to criticism by some including one journalist who called them the closest thing to a feudal barony this side of dupont . 8 company edit name and logo edit the chain s name comes from the site of the company s first milk plant and corporate headquarters in the wawa pennsylvania area . the name of the town wawa is in turn derived from the ojibwe word for the canada goose taken from the song of hiawatha . 11 an image of a goose in flight serves as the wawa corporate logo . it is said that the goose was chosen because the company employs the principles of teamwork group consensus and encouragement . leadership edit the current ceo of wawa is chris gheysens who succeeded howard stoeckel in january 2013 . 2 12 eleuth re th re du pont has served as both the cfo and president but is no longer associated with the company . richard d. dick wood jr. is chairman of the board of directors . as of july 2009 update many wood family members were still active within the company . although wawa is a family run business the employees of wawa also hold a relatively large percentage of stock . a typical super wawa gas station in horsham pennsylvania holdings and locations edit in 2015 wawa ranked 34th on the forbes magazine list of the largest private companies with total revenues of 9.68 billion . 3 as of 2016 update wawa employs over 22 000 people 5 3 in 720 stores 450 offering gasoline . 1 as of 2008 update wawa s new jersey stores were concentrated mostly in south jersey . 13 as of 1989 update wawa inc. and the wood family together control about 725 acres 293 ha of land containing the corporate headquarters the wawa dairy farm and j.t. farms within two municipalities in delaware county pennsylvania . the properties are located in chester heights and middletown township . wawa inc. owns 50 acres 20 ha of land around red roof the corporate headquarters 150 acres 61 ha of land around the wawa dairy and the 225 acre 91 ha j.t. farms . the wood family owns 300 acres 120 ha of estate property . cynthia mayer of the philadelphia inquirer said that as a result of the land holdings the wood family was the closest thing to a feudal barony this side of du pont . 8 beginning in the 1940s the dairy facility began selling excess parcels of land . in 1964 it sold about 40 acres to the franklin mint . several years prior to 1989 the dairy sold 25 acres of land to a retirement complex granite farms estates . the process of selling excess land continued sporadically . wawa inc. owns the 225 acre j.t. farms a separate farm property . as of 1989 update wawa inc. leases it to bill faul who maintained a herd of 100 holstein cattle and paid 1 500 currently 2778.12 per month . wawa continued to own the farm due to symbolic reasons . it also kept heifers along route 1 in a strip of land adjacent to the plant which did not produce milk ; fritz schroeder the vice president of wawa inc. said in 1989 w e like them for the ambiance . 14 wawa for the most part covers parts of pennsylvania not already served by fast growing rival stores sheetz and kroger owned turkey hill . wawa is often compared to sheetz due to their similar business models and pennsylvania roots . 15 corporate headquarters edit red roof at wawa headquarters in chester heights pennsylvania the company s corporate headquarters is located in the wawa area along baltimore pike 16 17 in chester heights . 18 19 the headquarters is in proximity to middletown township . 20 as of 2011 update about 300 employees work in the headquarters . the borough of chester heights receives a majority of its local services tax from employees of wawa . 18 programs and promotions edit wawa was among the first convenience stores to implement self serve computer touch screen menus for food orders in an attempt to improve order accuracy . wawa provides surcharge free atm transactions to all of its customers in six states the result of a partnership with pnc bank that began in 1985 . wawa implemented the program in stores in 1996 . in 2010 wawa surpassed 1 billion transactions under the pnc brand . 21 in the late 1980s and through the 1990s wawa engaged in a scholarship sponsorship program that involved irish students mainly from ucc in cork ireland running a considerable number of stores on the pennsylvania main line . this was a successful program that allowed the students to study for their mbas from saint joseph s university in philadelphia . 22 a wawa coffee bar counter with different flavors . a staple of wawa stores for years the glass carafes were replaced with coffee dispensers around 2010 for improved safety and ease of use . in 1994 wawa opened a store in center city philadelphia which sold food only . 23 in 1994 wawa debuted the super wawa larger stores with more parking that later added gasoline pumps in 1996 . 24 9 these larger stores added public restrooms and many gasoline pumps selling fuel at lower prices . on october 21 2010 wawa began testing the sale of diesel fuel at 12 of its new jersey locations due to an increasing number of cars using this fuel . 25 in the summer of 2002 wawa dairy celebrated its 100th anniversary by having a week long thirst aid tour where it delivered over 100 000 cold beverages to those who needed them most . wawa partnered with local food banks in an attempt to raise awareness of the ongoing need for support . in 2003 wawa and mclane co. reached a 30 year agreement to construct a distribution center in carney s point nj to handle the majority of wawa s distribution needs . 26 27 the center began operation in may 2004 . 27 in 2005 wawa partnered with jpmorgan chase to offer a visa credit card branded with the wawa name . it ceased issuing new cards in december 2007 and the program was canceled in november 2010 . 28 now wawa is offering their own credit card issued by citibank . wawa moved into social media to connect with its customers and in 2006 its i love wawa myspace page had over 5 000 members . by summer 2013 its facebook page had reached nearly 1.1 million likes . 29 in the summer of 2008 wawa introduced hoagiefest a reduced price promotion on four selected varieties of its shorti size hoagies . the hoagiefest promotion was expanded in 2010 in both the number of types of hoagies included and the time length of the promotion . wawa has run the promotion every summer since 2008 . in 2010 wawa became the primary sponsor of the welcome america series of independence day celebrations in philadelphia . the previous sponsor was sunoco . on june 30 2010 20 wawa locations in pennsylvania started a trial of selling pennsylvania lottery tickets from automated kiosks . on december 6 2010 it announced that all 210 pennsylvania wawa locations would sell lottery tickets from kiosks by spring 2011 . 30 31 on april 16 2014 to celebrate its 50th anniversary wawa gave away free coffee and launched a nonprofit foundation to donate 50 million to health and hunger initiatives . 32 advertising slogans edit 1960s wawa to the american indian meant wild goose . to you it means the finest in dairy products . on their milk bottles 1960s mama i want my wawa . 1970s fast fresh shopping night and day . 1972 people on the go go to wawa food markets 1980s we do it just a little bit better wawa . 1990s one great taste after another ; mornin noon and nite wawa does it right 1990s go to wawa when you re hot hot hot . 2002 2005 my choice . my wawa . 2005 present gottahava wawa products edit wawa