Dive Brief:
- Construction has begun on a Wawa convenience store and gas station in Clarksville, Indiana, according to an announcement from the town of Clarksville.
- The store is located right on the Indiana-Kentucky border, about 6 miles north of downtown Louisville. Construction is expected to take about nine months to complete, according to the announcement.
- This comes about five months after Wawa unveiled plans to open about 160 c-stores in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio over the next eight to ten years. The Clarksville store appears to be the first Indiana-based Wawa to begin construction.
Dive Insight:
When Wawa outlined its Indiana expansion plans last September, the company said at the time it expected to break ground on these locations in mid-2024.
A Wawa spokesperson said on Tuesday that the company has not yet broken ground on any of its stores in Indiana. However, they also noted that “preparation work” might be done by others ahead of Wawa’s own construction.
“Generally, if work is done on a site prior to our breaking ground, it is typically done by developers or others to prepare for our construction,” the spokesperson said. “We look forward to sharing schedules and news of our construction timelines over the coming months.”
The Clarksville site was most recently a Red Robin Restaurant, which has now been “completely demolished to make way” for the new Wawa, according to the city’s announcement. Before Red Robin, the location was a Ruby Tuesday restaurant.
Once up and running, Clarksville’s first Wawa location is expected to include up to eight electric vehicle charging stations in the forecourt and create about 35-40 new jobs, according to the city’s announcement. Plans for the location were approved last October.
Besides Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, Wawa is also in the midst of entering North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee as it aims to reach its broader goal of 1,800 c-stores by 2030.
Wawa operates over 1,000 stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington D.C.
