Everything You Need To Know About Wawa,
The Beloved Convenience Store
NEWS
By BUFFY NAILLON
The Name
The company’s name comes from Wawa, Pennsylvania, which is still home to its headquarters and where Wawa Dairy began. Wawa comes from French and Ojibwe for the word goose.
Beginnings
The Wawa company predates convenience stores by about 100 years, getting its start at the turn of the 19th century as an iron foundry. Wawa also dealt with textiles.
In its pre-convenience-store days, Wawa operated as a textile company exclusively until 1890, at which time owner George Wood branched out into other businesses.
Business Ventures
The business ventures morphed, depending on the interests and the opportunities. They ventured into hospitals, banks, dry goods, and a collections company.
The last venture crossed the Wood family’s paths with Abraham Lincoln, who, in his lawyer days, worked the collections aspect of their business as an independent contractor.
Milk Business
George Wood, the original founder of the textile company, followed up on his interest in dairy farming by opening the Wawa Dairy Farm in 1902.
Milk pasteurization hadn’t enjoyed widespread adoption, so people were wary of it. The Rocky Run Dairy Farm milk was “doctor certified” and had a great reputation.
First Market
In the mid-1960s, Wawa opened its first convenience store in Folsom, Pennsylvania. The store’s seven-to-eleven hours gave way to
around the clock service.