Seating instead of gas pumps at 1st now open: 1111-19th stNW
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP)
Seating instead of gas pumps at 1st now open: 1111-19th stNW
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP)
Lots of help yourself at 1st now open: 1111-19th stNW
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP)
is officially open and serving up hoagies and free coffee this morning in the BID. Congrats to DC's very first !
— Golden Triangle BID (@GoldenTriDC)
NOTHING WILL EVER BE MORE LIT THAN OPENING DAY IN DC.
— Morgan Finkelstein (@momofink)
SPOTTED: This poor soul, dressed as an inferior cup of coffee, in line at the grand opening. U bum!
— Aaron Myers (@aaronemyers)
WASHINGTON 鈥� The District’s debut Wawa opened its doors to the public Thursday south of Dupont Circle.
The highly anticipated eatery, described as a “restaurant-style location,” had its grand opening at 1111 19th Street NW 鈥� between Dupont Circle and K Street. Wawa CEO Chris Gheysen addressed the crowd just before ribbon cutting.
The company claims its newest establishment will offer Washingtonians “a store uniquely designed for the D.C. customer.”
Twitter users seemed to agree, tweeting out photos and revelry with the #WawaInDC hashtag.
Wawa already has plans to expand into Georgetown, one of many moves the chain has in store for the area.
Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens told WTOP at the opening, 鈥淲e鈥檝e had our sights set on the District for years, frankly.鈥� Their first 鈥渦rban-style store鈥� was in Philadelphia in 2015, he said, and after that turned out to be a success, he said, 鈥渙ur natural next best place would be the District.鈥�
He cited several factors: The number of Wawa stores surrounding the Beltway, which meant familiarity with the brand; the number of transplants from Philadelphia and south New Jersey who already know the Wawa name, and 鈥渢he vibrancy [of] the economy, and so many young millennials who love our brand.鈥�
He added that Wawa would partner with local charities and 鈥渞eally get to know D.C.鈥� They鈥檝e begun by making a $10,000 donation to the Capital Area Food Bank, as well as up pledging up to $5,000 of the first week of hoagie sales. They鈥檒l also be donating unused food to shelters around the District.
John Poplawski, Wawa鈥檚 head of real estate development, told WTOP in June that D.C. “fits all of the things we are looking for in an urban market. It has the right population in terms of numbers, and it has great numbers of millennials, which are a sweet spot for our business.鈥�
鈥淔olks working in the high-rises and 24-hour hospitals and other things in urban environments need that place to touch down, get a cup of coffee, a smoothie, a great Wawa built-to-order hoagie, and there are very few places in the District that can fit that bill,鈥� he said.
Pennsylvania-based Wawa has more than a dozen locations outside of the Washington and Baltimore beltways, and operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida in addition to Maryland and Virginia.
Find store locations .
WTOP’s Matt Ritter and Jeff Clabaugh contributed to this report.
