'Dark side' Wawa is like Wal-Mart, rival complains: Update
A rival gas station operator in Conshohocken wages a campaign to fight a 'super Wawa' he says would drive local shops out of business and jam the neighborhood
'Dark side' Wawa is like Wal-Mart, rival complains: Update
Joseph N. DiStefano
Has Wawa's big new gasoline-powered stores made the Delco-based retailer a Wal-Mart style threat to Pennsylvania's old-line boroughs, instead of the hometown champion it used to be?
That's the allegation from a leader of a band of self-described "mom and pop businesses" in Conshohocken, where Wawa wants to put a big new store and gas pumps on Fayette St. near 11th Ave., at the site long occupied by E.F. Moore Chevrolet. Opponents include Bob Wilson, who's been in the service station business in the area for 44 years.
(Wawa's also taking over, for example, the vacant former Northeast Lincoln Mercury, and the Mayfair Civic Association has welcomed the switch, according to the Northeast Times.)
No immediate comment from Wawa, but a presentation at last month's Conshohocken borough council meeting provoked so much comment that "Wawa will be holding a meeting tonight at Fellowship House to review their plans" and "hear the neighbors' concerns," says borough manager Fran Marabella. "It's in Wawa's court." The property would need borough zoning and planning approval to fit a Wawa and service station.
Bad for the neighborhood, says Wilson: "There's a lot of rowhouses in that area. There's a road in the back that will take traffic into a smaller street. It's going to be difficult for tanker trucks to leave in that direction... These big corporations are swallowing up everything."
Wilson says he was chased out of his old, leased King of Prussia by Exxon at the start of the 1980s "after they tripled my rent, because I wouldn't play their games and sell gas at their price," he told me. "I invested everything" in what's now Bob Wilson Gulf. "Now I own the station and they can't dictate to me. I've built the business up. My son is with me. Our mechanic has been with us for many years. We've made it a good part of the neighborhood."
And not just the Wilsons. He mentally walked me up Fayette St. and Butler Pike toward Conshohocken reviewing the service station owners: "Kevin Bow, his father had the station before him, fifty years, that's an Exxon. There's Joe Black, his father had the business, he's with Sunoco. Al Torcini, he's Liberty now, his father had the business. And over on Conshohocken Road there's Adam Ferrioli, they have 65 years in.
"These guys have built the business from their fathers. They've worked their whole lives. Now this corporation will swallow things. I don't know what it'll do to the hoagie shops, the small restaurants. We're just concerned because if this comes in it'll kill everybody. You'll have one big new business, and 20 empty businesses. Everybody knows these dealers. They're good, hardworking people who've built their businesses."
In a statement, Wilson added: "Their choice of location is odd enough: in the middle of a residential neighborhood, adjacent to ball fields, miles from a highway interchange - a far cry from their usual Super Wawa locations.
"Residents are up in arms. Concern over the impact on locally owned, locally operated businesses has taken on a David-versus-Goliath feel, with several owners of mom and pop businesses banding together to oppose the proposed construction. All of them have seen what happens when Super Wawa comes to town, and they know their days are numbered if Wawa prevails.
"Other residents are also concerned about the impact of traffic, light pollution, loitering, and even the impact on the local pee wee football team. The Conshohocken Golden Bears fund a substantial portion of their operating budget from game-day concessions; concessions that will be decimated with a Super Wawa just footsteps away from the bleachers.
"The fight in Conshohocken signals a sea change in how the local community views Wawa. Whereas once seen as the home-town good guys, Wawa has now crossed over to the dark side, and is now seen as the convenience store industry’s answer to Wal-Mart: a big box retailer of epic proportions that does more bad than good when it comes to town."
First off this wouldn't have happened if OUR government stayed out of mom & pop bushiness. They made GMclose down small dealers like E F Moore that was next generations of family owned business. I still drink wawa coffee & think they get it right. BUT, I don't want it next door to my house.— squinn
wawa is ok in my book.— tiger- TO: jet3to... im all for helping locally owned businesses survive but not if those businesses aren't pulling their own weight. if these owners cant evolve their business model by providing consumers with products/services at competitive prices, they need to change or be put down. only the strong survive.— sdffa13
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WAWA is not going to open the getto no one in their right mind would work for them there. The section 8s would rob thedm blind. Think why there no supermarkert in chester.It's like Obama said if you have we want it for nothing.— oldbiker- I am sure Wawa would hire Mom & Pop to pump gas. Wawa is the best mini-mart around.— zion
- Also, I'd like to point out that it's not the "Former E.F. Moore Chevrolet" site. The business is still there, and is up and running for service and used car sales. And may well be for a while if they have anything to say about it. From talking to them, they would rather stay open forever, but are being forced out. They released a statement today, and you should fix your story to state the facts: http://morethanthecurve.com/2010/10/statement-from-the-moore-family-of-ef-moore-chevrolet/— PhillyGuy71
- There's a reason Wawa doesn't operate in the hood. They don't tolerate dirty graffiti covered stores with a loitering problem. There was a shooting at a store in Fairview and Wawa sold the location in days. Smart move.— septguy55
- I want a wawa in Boston. All they have here are Dunkin' Donuts and angry Red Sox fans.— jojenkins
- I love WAWA coffee, and they should open in the HOODS, get some of your HOODS to chip in some of there drug money to open one and then a WaWA will happen I would like a lil crack with my coffee please... WAWA isnt in the business of getting robbed that is why they dont open up in any of the HOODS...Will admit a shortie is good at 3am after a nite at the bar— pa2nz
- Mom & Pop shops are being unfairly criticized here. What they frequently lack is accessibility--easy ingress/egress and parking. Short of buying up nearby real estate and turning it into parking lots, that is always going to be a shortcoming no matter what other improvements or offerings they have. People do not want to have to parallel park, park down the street, or pay for parking. So in some ways, by current market standards, the Mom & Pop shops are functionally obsolete. No matter what else they offer, they most likely cannot overcome the accessibility issue irrespective of any other business model change.— Wednesday
- Wish we had Wawa's here in Georgia. We have little Circle K's and Race Trac's that maybe offer pre-packaged sandwiches and microwave sandwiches. Maybe some off brand of snack cakes and maybe one or 2 types of coffee they are awful. We need Wawa's or Sheetz down in Georgia and fast.— slade1955
- I wish Wawa would come to Western Pa and take over...— hopsman98
gotta hava wawa— selophane43- Bob Wilson needs to get out of Conshy a little bit more. His statement that Wawa only builds Super Wawa's need highway interchanges is absurd. Northeast Philly, for example, has Super Wawa's in many neighborhoods, none of which are near highway interchanges. They do excellent business due to their consistent cleanliness and quality.— Smokey
