This Wawa of the Future Is Unlike Any You’ve Experienced

This isn't your parents Wawa. This isn't even your Wawa. You may be about to experience the customer experience of the Wawa of the future.

And the future is now at one Wawa location in Philadelphia.

The newly designed Wawa at 3300 Market Street in Philadelphia has done away with all the shelves. They have been replaced with open spaces and computer terminals.

Rather than shopping and choosing your lunch snacks or late-night munchies from rows of goodies, you will now do your shopping virtually, using either Wawa’s mobile app or in-store kiosks, and then have your orders fulfilled by associates working at the store.

For a guy old enough to remember when you just asked the woman behind the Wawa lunchmeat counter to make you a ham sandwich and go light on the mustard, this may be one step too far into the future for me with Wawa.

Wawa told the Philadelphia Business Journal that this new format is designed to make your visit faster and more efficient, and it won't cause any employees to lose their jobs.

They will now be Wawa fulfillment specialists. I actually just made that term up, but it sounds like it could fit the position.

There is another reason for this experiment at this Center City Philly Wawa. In 2022, Wawa was forced to close several Philadelphia stores because of problems with shoplifting and customers getting violent.

This is one way Wawa is looking to restore a presence in Center City by thinking outside the box while keeping all the actual boxes tucked away safely behind the counter.

Will it work?

We will see. You will know it did when you find yourself in a Wawa stripped clean of shelving and products and replaced with more in-store kiosks and fulfillment attendants.

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