Until now, Wawa has remained confined to small convenience stores primarily serving local areas, while Buc-ee has run massive interstate stops catering to large long-distance traffic. As Wawa introduces a new super-sized format in the South, that is going to change.
To clarify, Wawa’s initial entry into the travel center market isn’t as heinous as the usual Buc-ee’s.With more than 50,000 square feet and 120 petrol pumps, the Leeds Buc-Ee’s facility is typical of the Texas chain’s Alabama locations. Wawa claims that its first travel center will include 20 passenger car fueling stations and more than 8,000 square feet of area.
That is far larger than the average Wawa, even if it is clearly smaller than a Buc-ee’s. More importantly, it is situated on an Interstate exchange, has six high-speed diesel fuel lines, and accepts over-the-road (OTR) payments. It’s located at 630 Chicken Foot Road on I-95 in Hope Mills, North Carolina, just south of Fayetteville.
Wawa Chief Real Estate Officer John Poplawski told WGHP-TV8 in North Carolina that the store is made to cater to both locals and tourists.
Along with providing the freshest food, drinks, conveniences, and the friendliest staff, our Wawa Travel Center will also serve as a community center for local friends and neighbors to enjoy, in addition to meeting the fuelling needs of professional drivers. Poplawski stated.
Wawarecently declared that the new travel center would open on August 28.
Since opening its initial half-dozen locations in Mobile and Baldwin counties, Wawa has garnered significant attention in Alabama over the past year and a half. That is a component of a vigorous growth over the central Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle.
Wawa, which was established in Pennsylvania and, until recently, primarily expanded along the East Coast, is now also spreading into parts of the Midwest and the central South. It inaugurated its first location in Kentucky in July, and more recently, it began construction on its first location in central Tennessee. Additionally, other Wawas have opened in Ohio and Indiana in 2025.
