A recent article in the Philly Inquirer (April 16, Page A1, "How Success Came to Wawa") recounts the history of the Wawa chain since their launch 45 years ago. Starting as a milk delivey service, Wawa then decided to initiate grocery sales inside brick-and-mortar locations. Key to their success was learning to select prime locations with heavy commuter traffic and to cater to customer's specific needs. Even coffee - now their signature product - was an evolutionary offering after a customer requested a cup from the clerk's personal percolator. Since Wawa had only offered simple groceries and no prepared foods at that point, they had to develop a whole new line in their supply chain, including the ground coffee , percolators, cups, serving bars, and so on.
Don't know if Wawa was to first to offer freshly brewed coffee from a convenience store, but they've sure been successful at it.
Keith
Disgusting
16 years ago
We can certainly see why WaWa has become so successful. I agree that their locations are key (there always seems to be one around a busy area) and they definitely respond to consumers wants.
ReplyDelete