HOPE MILLS, N.C. — Wawa, Inc. marked a major milestone this week with the grand opening of its first-ever Travel Center in Hope Mills, North Carolina. This new store format is designed to serve professional drivers, family travelers, and local customers.
The 8,000-square-foot location, at 630 Chicken Foot Road in Cumberland County, features Wawa’s fresh food and beverage offerings, 20 fueling stations for passenger vehicles, six high-speed diesel lanes for tractor-trailers, EV charging, a CAT weigh station, tractor-trailer parking, restrooms, and a pet relief area. Inside, guests can enjoy Wawa’s signature hoagies, coffee, and other prepared foods, with seating available both inside and outside.
Hundreds attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which featured a parade of Wawa fuel and EV milestones, as well as a “Hoagies for Heroes” competition honoring first responders. As part of the opening, Wawa launched its Lending a Helping Hoagie campaign, pledging up to $2,500 from the first week’s hoagie sales to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina.
“We’re thrilled to premier the new Travel Center format in Hope Mills and bring Wawa’s fresh food, beverages and convenience to local customers while serving a need to the community, travelers and professional drivers! This historic milestone kicks off the next chapter of our growth as we debut a new store format and prepare to bring it to additional locations in Ohio and Indiana in the coming months,” said Brian Schaller, President of Wawa.
The Hope Mills Travel Center is Wawa’s 15th store in North Carolina. Over the next decade, the company plans to open 90 stores across the state, investing more than $7.5 million in each new location and creating an estimated 3,000 long-term jobs. Two more Travel Centers are currently under construction.
Founded in Pennsylvania in 1964 as a food market, Wawa now operates over 1,100 stores across the Mid-Atlantic, Florida, and the Southeast.
