Wawa

You might say the 15-foot structure that stands shrouded at the entrance of the Malvern Shopping Center on King Street is, well, a sign of the changing times in the borough. It used to announce in fluorescent lights the presence of an IGA supermarket, the anchor store in the plaza. Now that store is gone after 20 years, replaced by a Wawa convenience store. The sign, like the new tenant, has become an issue of contention in the borough. Some residents opposed the new store, which opened in the fall, calling it a pricey replacement for a supermarket.

About 200 Conshohocken residents packed the Washington Fire House on Wednesday night to speak for and against a proposed Wawa store on Fayette Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. It was the third and final public hearing on the proposal, which opponents say would exacerbate traffic and ruin the small-town character of Conshohocken. At issue is a proposed amendment to the borough charter to allow the Wawa at a site zoned for office and residential uses. The Borough Council will vote on the proposed amendment April 17. Planners for the borough and Montgomery County have recommended rejecting the plan.

The 10-day strike of Wawa store truck drivers and warehouse workers ended last night in City Hall after several hours of "shuttle diplomacy" by U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and city Controller Jonathan Saidel. Union head Bob Ryder declared the agreement was "excellent for the members," saying he would "strongly recommend approval.' "We have a deal and Wawa is extremely pleased," said company negotiator Steven Wall. "We want to bring them [the striking workers] back as soon as possible.

The New Garden Township Board of Supervisors approved preliminary subdivision and land-development plans for a Wawa convenience store at Route 41 and Newark Road. The supervisors approved the plans at Monday's meeting, with the condition that developer Vaughn Carlton widen both sides of Newark Road by 14 feet each and provide acceleration and deceleration lanes. The supervisors also want Carlton to install a pork-chop-shaped island that would permit only right turns onto Newark Road.

A tentative contract agreement reached late last night averted a strike by Wawa drivers and maintenance workers but the threat is not over. The convenience-store chain issued a statement last night saying it had reached a contract agreement with Teamsters Locals 463 and 473. But Local 463 Secretary Treasurer and principal officer Bob Ryder said the negotiating committee rejected the deal because there is still one area of disagreement, overtime....

The prospect of a new Wawa store in the Malvern Shopping Center drew the ire of several residents Tuesday at the Borough Council meeting. Wawa is renovating the 5,300-square-foot space previously occupied by Scheidel's Malvern Market, a supermarket that closed in April, according to Richard DiPrimio, borough manager and council member. Local business people expressed concern that the new store would not provide the kind of service required by residents and that it would attract a clientele unlikely to shop at local stores.

A federal judge has ruled that a Delaware County developer planning to build an office complex named after the old village of Wawa must warn the public that he is not associated with the well-known dairy and chain of convenience stores. U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak ruled Monday that Commons at Wawa Inc. must carry an asterisk on its signs, stationery and other advertisements noting that the firm is not affiliated with Wawa Inc., whose dairy is in the nearby village of Wawa.

How many Wawas are enough Wawas? In Ridley Township, it seems, one about every six blocks. Last month, the convenience store chain got approval for another Wawa on MacDade Boulevard, making it impossible to go more than a mile in places without seeing the familiar flying goose. "With this one, there are six just on MacDade Boulevard alone," said Francis Pileggi, attorney for Wawa. What's more, adds Pileggi, "I think they'll open more. " The new Wawa, at Holmes Avenue and MacDade Boulevard, will take the place of a hot dog restaurant that went out of business.

A meeting of the Conshohocken Borough Council erupted in applause Wednesday night after the council voted, 6-1, against a zoning amendment that would have allowed a Wawa store and service station on Fayette Street. Wawa requested the amendment to allow a convenience store and 10-pump station in an area zoned for residential and office uses. The company can push forward, but will now have to argue before the zoning board. The proposal generated heated debate over the last few months, with community groups forming to lobby for and against the store.

It may be a tall order to fill, but Wawa Inc. hopes to achieve in the next 10 years what it has taken the company the last quarter-century to do. The Delaware County company whose structures have become part of the county landscape wants to more than double the number of its convenience stores by the end of the decade. Henry McHugh, vice president of operations, summed up the company's aim succinctly: "Our objective is to have 1,000 stores by the year 2000. " Increasing the number of stores from 465 to 1,000 in so short a time may seem highly ambitious, especially in a market that seems saturated with convenience-store chains.

COFFEE expert Aaron Ultimo doesn't do drive-through java. He can't remember the last time he had Starbucks. And, until very recently, he hadn't drunk a Dunkin'. Or even a Wawa. Ultimo and his wife, Elizabeth, own and run two South Philly shops. Foodie website The Daily Meal recently rated Ultimo Coffee's locations the best in the U.S. At the Ultimos' cafes - one at 15th and Mifflin, one at 22nd and Catharine - each fresh grind represents a single-origin, sustainable grower.

Forty-nine years ago, Conshohocken leaders began crafting a comprehensive plan to transform the grimy old mill town into a modern, livable municipality, albeit a small one. At just over one square mile, Conshohocken is shoehorned into a bend of the Schuylkill River, but is within earshot of I-476 and the Schuylkill Expressway, two of the region's major arteries. It took several decades, but between the vision of past leaders and the impact of that pair of highways, Conshohocken has become one of the region's hottest neighborhoods, with sleek condo towers, destination restaurants and corporate headquarters along the waterfront, and a locally owned, family-friendly strip of restaurants, bars, and stores along Fayette Street.

A meeting of the Conshohocken Borough Council erupted in applause Wednesday night after the council voted, 6-1, against a zoning amendment that would have allowed a Wawa store and service station on Fayette Street. Wawa requested the amendment to allow a convenience store and 10-pump station in an area zoned for residential and office uses. The company can push forward, but will now have to argue before the zoning board. The proposal generated heated debate over the last few months, with community groups forming to lobby for and against the store.

'TIS THE week that college-admission offices send their official acceptance and rejection letters to hopeful applicants. Those cheers and groans you've been hearing are from high-school seniors wondering where they'll park their lives for the next four years. The din is almost - but not quite - drowning out the panicked cries of soon-to-be college grads. They must now pay back the truckloads of money they borrowed to pay for their pigskins. Their debt will swell the $1 trillion tab already owed by U.S. college grads.

A visit to Wawa and Sheetz stores in Bethlehem, one of the few places in Pennsylvania where the convenience-store chains compete, finds both committed partisans and practical choices. "I use them both," said limo driver Bob Stahley, gassing up at the Sheetz on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem, across the road and just up the hill from the Wawa. "I like Wawa's soft pretzels. But this side of the road is on the way to New York. " "They copy each other," said Charles Beegle, in a Pirates cap, in his Cable Service Co. truck.

Pennsylvania divides a few ways: Phillies vs. Pirates. Democratic ex-factory towns vs. Republican ex-farming townships. Nittany Lions fans vs. everyone else. And Wawa vs. Sheetz - though that might be the least bitter rivalry: The state's two big gas-and-milk, Cokes-and-smokes, Tastykakes-and-store-built sandwich chains try not to fight. They're not like Ford vs. GM. Instead, they have mostly drawn lines and split the land between them. Like Comcast and TimeWarner Cable. Which you prefer depends on where you were raised: Wawa is Philly and the Shore from Jersey to Virginia Beach.

About 200 Conshohocken residents packed the Washington Fire House on Wednesday night to speak for and against a proposed Wawa store on Fayette Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. It was the third and final public hearing on the proposal, which opponents say would exacerbate traffic and ruin the small-town character of Conshohocken. At issue is a proposed amendment to the borough charter to allow the Wawa at a site zoned for office and residential uses. The Borough Council will vote on the proposed amendment April 17. Planners for the borough and Montgomery County have recommended rejecting the plan.

About 200 Conshohocken residents packed the Washington Fire House on Wednesday night to speak for and against a proposed Wawa store on Fayette Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. It was the third and final public hearing on the proposal, which opponents say would exacerbate traffic and ruin the small-town character of Conshohocken. At issue is a proposed amendment to the borough charter to allow the Wawa at a site zoned for office and residential uses. The Borough Council will vote on the proposed amendment April 17. Planners for the borough and Montgomery County have recommended rejecting the plan.

Two South Jersey men were arrested this week during a traffic stop in which Gloucester Township police say they found drugs and counterfeit money. Police say events began about 8:30 p.m. Monday during a motor vehicle violation stop on the Black Horse Pike at Clementon Ave, in the township's Blackwood section. The vehicle, which police did not describe, matched the description of a vehicle being used by men who were passing counterfeit bills at multiple area Wawa stores. Erik Ellison, 21 of Huntington Mews, Blackwood, and his passenger Robert A. Smith Jr, 49 of Newton Lane, Willingboro, were arrested on "numerous" outstanding warrants for their arrest.