Wawa adding two stores in South Jersey. Where will they be?

Wawa's looking to distant states to fuel growth, but the convenience store chain hasn't forgotten its roots.

The company this month is opening two stores in South Jersey, along with a third in nearby Mercer County.

The first to debut, in Penns Grove, will hold a grand opening on Aug. 15, Wawa has announced. The Salem County store will operate at North Virginia Avenue and East Main Street.

A Logan store will arrive one week later, with an Aug. 22 ceremony, at Route 322 and Crossroads Boulevard.

Hoagies to go: Wawa, once known mostly to locals, expanding to a 13th state

The Mercer County store, on Route 1 in West Windsor, will open on Aug. 29.

Each event will begin at 7:45 a.m. with a countdown to an 8 a.m. opening.

Wawa stores debut with giveaways

The ceremonies will include T-shirts for the first 100 customers and free coffee throughout the day.

Local police and fire departments will participate in a hoagie-building contest at each store, with a ribbon-cutting to take place at 8:30 a.m.

Wawa also plans openings on Aug. 8 for a store in Sadsbury, Chester County, and on Aug. 16 in Sarasota, Fla.

The company is adding two stores in Alabama, a new market, on Aug. 29.

Wawa now has more than 1,060 stores, including 269 in New Jersey.

The company entered the retail market 60 years ago.

It expanded from an initial store in Folsom, Delaware County, to become a ubiquitous presence in the South Jersey-Philadelphia region, as well as Delaware.

Wawa also has a long-time presence in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

It's opened stores this year in Alabama and North Carolina.

Wawa is building stores in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

The chain, with annual revenues of about $18 billion, was once known for small stores in neighborhood settings. It now focuses on larger properties on major highways with fuel pumps and charging stations.

The family-owned company began in 1803 as an iron foundry in the Bridgeton area. It expanded into dairy farming, with a processing plant in Wawa, Pa., in 1902.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Wawa adding two stores in South Jersey. Where will they be?