Skip to content Skip to navigation

Wawa officially opens in Wilkes-Barre Township

WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There was a packed parking lot and long lines inside the building all day and night.

The store's general manager says an average of 200 people come in every hour and that's surpassed her expectations.

The people didn't stop piling into the new Wawa in Wilkes-Bare Township Friday evening.

"I was expecting to do really well but I wasn't expecting to do this well," said Tammi Fennelly the general manager.

Pizza, macaroni salad, and smoothies were just some menu choices of many who were thrilled to purchase them right here in Luzerne County.

"It's definitely better to come here than to drive 45 mins away to Blakeslee," says Tristan Chempanos from Wilkes-Barre.

Lackawanna County Winter Market kicks off

And the price at the pump was surely appetizing too.

"It's cheap 2.99 a gallon you can't beat that," stated David Wolfe from Sweet Valley.

Emily Solsman works at Sheetz, Wawa's rival competition but that wasn't stopping her from being one of those in line here Friday.

"I love Sheetz with all my heart but I have my favorite things there and my other favorite things here," says Solsman.

The new Wawa is located in the old K-mart plaza on Route 309 is the first in the area since 2001. Construction began more than a year ago. People lined up early in the morning bracing for the bitter cold to be among the first to visit when the doors opened on Friday.

"I brought shifts in early called mangers in that were off in early because we want to take care of the customers," stated Fennelly.

It's Fennelly's first time running a store and getting this one put together took a lot of extra hours.

She says she had six weeks to get her team together which consisted of breaking down 300 applicants into 38 hires.

"They're all brand new and doing great. My training stores were amazing but coming into something like this it's been a lot of positive reinforcement and they are doing great," explained Fennelly.

The business expected to bring in all the fan favorites and many newcomers too.

"I don't know anybody here. I've never seen any of these people in my life but to see new faces in Wilkes-Barre is fantastic," added Chempanos

Fennelly says $5,000 in sales were made in just one hour from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. this afternoon and she's never seen that before in her former employment positions.

Wawa is open 24/7.