It appears that two more old-school Wawa stores in South Jersey will soon be fading into history.
The Old-school Wawas We Grew Up With
“Old-school” as in the type of Wawas that you and I grew up with — the ones that certainly weren’t “super” and never had gas pumps. These were the smaller, cramped stores, many with that famous A-framed peaked roof, that were either little stand-alone buildings or ones that anchored a small strip mall.
And they all seemed to have a few things in common. In many cases, the parking lots were just awful. I mean, Wawa parking lots today are known for being crazy, but these old stores took crazy to a whole new level. Inside, the aisles were tight and there wasn’t much room to get your coffee, but all of the workers seemed to know all of the regular customers and there was a good chance that you would bump into someone you went to high school with while waiting in line.
Those older Wawas have/had a certain feel to them. They feel/felt homey and local. The new ones, eh, not so much. The new Wawa stores are nice, don’t get me wrong, but they’re kinda big-box-store-ish now.
Recent Closings
Over the years, we’ve documented the loss of many of these stores. One in Collings Lakes on the Atlantic-Gloucester County border closed in the summer of 2023 after being a part of that community for 53 years. This was a rare case of a store closing and it not being replaced by a new one.
Right before that one closed, its employees built a really cool wall of memories inside.
Another one in Williamstown recently closed, too. That location was replaced by a Super Wawa right across the street.
And now, sadly, we can add more to this list.
2 More Old Wawa Stores Closing
According to our friends at 42freeway.com, older-style Wawa stores in Winslow and Upper Pittsgrove Townships will soon be going away.
In Winslow Township, the store at Berlin-Cross Keys and Johnson Roads will soon be demolished for a new Super Wawa to be built in its place.
And yes, that’s a new Royal Farms store right next door, so I’m sure Wawa won’t be dragging its feet on this project…