The Wawa business began in 1803 as an iron foundry.
In 1890, George Wood, an entrepreneur from New Jersey, moved to Delaware County, Pennsylvania; it was here that he began the Wawa Dairy Farm. Wood imported cows from the British Crown dependency island of Guernsey and bought 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land in the Chester Heights area; the corporate headquarters would later be renamed Wawa.
Since pasteurization was not yet available, many children suffered 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.
The strategy worked and allowed the Wawa dairy to grow. Demand for dairy products increased during the 1920s, and so did the company. Wawa began using the slogan “Buy Health by the Bottle”; they served customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, delivering milk to customers’ homes.
In the 1960s, however, many consumers began buying milk in stores instead of home delivery. Wawa started to open its stores to adjust to these market changes.
On April 16, 1964, Grahame Wood, George Wood’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market at 1212 MacDade Boulevard in Folsom, Pennsylvania, which remained in operation until June 17, 2016, when it closed in favor of a new “Super Wawa” down the street. A parade was held from the original location to the new store on opening day.
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.
In 1977, Wawa began sharing company ownership with its associates through profit-sharing plans. In 1992, Wawa formalized its associate ownership with its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), with stock awarded to associates annually based on the prior year’s service. Because the company is privately held, Wawa secures an independent assessment of its stock value at regular intervals to ensure that the ESOP is pretty maintained. Today, the ESOP accounts for more than 40% of Wawa stock.
Credit: Real Brigantine
