Get Ready For Royal

Get Ready For Royal

Royal Farms set to open in EHT, plans to open other local stores

By Cindy Fertsch

Royal Farms convenience store chain is days away from opening up it’s first location in Atlantic County, on the corner of Fire and Tilton Roads in Egg Harbor Township. This will soon provide some direct competition for the area’s established convenience store leader, Wawa.

Royal Farms currently has nearly 200 stores, mostly in the mid-Atlantic. A second EHT store on the Black Horse Pike and a third store in Absecon are in the planning stages.  Wawa  has more than 1,000  stores along the East Coast from New York to Florida. Some convenience store competition will be heating up this summer right here in Atlantic County. The winner will most likely be all of us, as the consumer, with lower prices in the store and at the gas tank.

Royal Farms will offer some new menu items, such as fried chicken, on and off the bone and in salads and sandwiches too. They will also have the typical convenience store items, such as tobacco, lottery tickets, coffee and grab and go food items, as well as value-priced gasoline.

Chicken is Royal Farms claim to fame. It boasts of having never frozen chicken, but rather prepared and breaded chicken on site. It also offers hand-cut, fried potato wedges and wrap sandwiches.

Wawa vs. Royal Farms

Wawa and Royal Farm are both open 24-hours a day. Freshly-brewed coffee is offered all day long at both chains, but Wawa has more varieties. Both offer multiple flavors and blends, but Wawa also offers lattes and other specialties. A recent comparison showed a 12-ounce coffee goes for $1.29 at Wawa and a 12-ounce coffee at Royal Farms is about $1.50. 

Subs or Hoagies?

Both Royal Farms and Wawa offer handmade, built-to-order sandwiches. Both feature menu screens to pick what to add or subtract from sandwiches and a limitless number of options — including toasted or not toasted, and assorted condiments. Wawa, however, has roots in Southwestern Pennsylvania dairy farms and stakes claims to the local customs and traditions, including what to call their sandwiches on long, Italian-styled rolls – hoagies!

Royal Farms, on the other hand, calls their sandwiches, “subs,” which could definitely be considered a “No-No” in the Philadelphia area. That aside, Wawa may on top in this category  because Wawa offers a greater variety of hoagies and deli meat combinations. 

Grab & Go

If you’re on the go, both chains offer prepared food options to grab off the shelf. Both feature a variety of breakfast and lunch items. Royal Farms has a greater variety of the traditional and wrap sandwiches. Freshly-prepared food though is still the top choice for those with a moment of two to spare. 

Sweets

Both have baked goods in a variety of shapes and sizes. Royal Farms has its own brand of baked goods, as well as a Krispy Kreme case of individual doughnuts. Wawa also features cases of individual baked goods, but Royal Farms has more to offer in this category. 

Gas

On a recent weekday, the gasoline price was exactly the same at both Royal Farms and Wawa. Expect lower prices at nearby Wawa locations as Royal Farms enters this market.