Wawa begins building its first 2 Kentucky stores. Where will the next ones go? - MASHAHER

Wawa, the Pennsylvania convenience store known for its hoagies, great coffee and Sizzli breakfast sandwiches, has launched its Kentucky expansion.

The company is breaking ground on its first two Kentucky stores today at 3012 Lexington Road. in Nicholasville, also known as U.S. 27, and in Louisville at 9650 Preston Crossing Blvd.

The Nicholasville store is south of Brannon Crossing in a booming area of Jessamine County just outside of Lexington.

The stores are expected to open in summer 2025 and will be followed by waves of new Wawas over the next few years.

Wawa, a convenience store chain with food, drinks, coffee and clean restrooms with a cult following, broke ground on June 5 on its first two Kentucky stores.

Construction will begin later this year on three more locations, which are expected to open in the fall of 2025:

▪ 900 E. Main St. in Georgetown.

▪ 4314 Bardstown Road in Louisville.

▪ 1354 Veterans Parkway in Clarksville, Ind., in the Louisville market.

According to the company, Wawa plans to open nine stores in Kentucky in 2025, building up eventually to as many as 40 in the state.

Wawa plans to build up to 40 convenience stores in Kentucky in the next few years.

Wawa has more than 20 sites under contract in Fayette, Boone, Bullitt, Campbell, Hardin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby, Simpson and Warren counties, the company said in a news release.

Where in Lexington will Wawa be?

In October, Lexington city officials gave the green light to a Wawa for a new Anderson Communities development at 4075 Old Richmond Road, across from Jacobson Park.

So far, that’s the only Lexington location that has been identified.

As part of a three-state Community Partnership Tour across the Midwest, Wawa hosted a preview event to introduce itself to the community and share more details about its first wave of expansion plans at the Old courthouse in Lexington, Ky., September 26, 2023.

The property would have a convenience store and gas station on the Athens-Boonesboro Road side, as well as a restaurant. The plans call for 184 parking spaces and eight gas pumps.

Wawa officials told the Herald-Leader on Wednesday that the store is still coming but timing will be contingent on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s completion of the reworking of the intersection.

Wawa’s expansion

Wawa, which is privately held, has announced that it plans a 160-store expansion across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana in the next eight to 10 years.

Last September, at a news conference in Lexington that also included chances to sample Wawa’s famous hoagies, company executives said they would invest more than $280 million in Kentucky and create more than 1,400 new jobs.

Wawa also announced on Wednesday grants to two community partners in Kentucky: God’s Pantry Food Bank in Lexington and Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville each received $10,000 from the Wawa Foundation Fly Beyond Fund, an initiative to fight food insecurity.

Beth Musgrave contributed to this report.

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Source Agencies