Here in Delaware County, Wawa still evokes positive feelings, but that’s not true everywhere, writes Bob Fernandez for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Robert Costello, the owner of Costello Asset Management, a close observer of local retail, said Wawa evokes personal feelings locally because it started here.

 “But Wawa is now approaching 1,000 stores, including 250 in Florida, and now they’re going into North Carolina, and these states where they don’t have real competition and where the state makes it easy for them.”

They’re so big, in fact, that they can close stores in the city and not have to deal with the aggravation of rising crime.

“That’s how huge Wawa has gotten,” Costello said.

But in Bucks County, residents are starting to question how big Wawa should get. They are pushing back against a 6-1/2-acre Super Wawa in Holland with 60 parking spaces and 16 gas pumps.

The store will “destroy Holland as we know it,” said Pam Duffey.

A fight over a Cherry Hill super Wawa with gas pumps and another one in Newtown Township are also in play. Wawa’s been looking at bigger stores, with lucrative gas pumps as it moves beyond Eastern Pennsylvania.

Read more about Wawa’s Super Wawa expansion at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

This April 2022 video looks at why gas stations are turning into supermarkets.