City Council member Garrett Dennis and store manager Donna Plant prepare to cut the ribbon during grand-opening ceremonies Wednesday at the 6787 Wilson Blvd. Wawa store.
And it's cut....
The Edward H. White High School band dances outside the Wawa.
The Edward H. White High School band takes a photo after the ceremonies.
Free coffee is offered as a grand-opening perk.
A color guard was on hand as the national anthem was sung.
Police officers make hoagies before the grand opening ceremony. Later they would take on firefighters in a hoagie-making contest.
Crowds fill the store during the grand opening.
Wawa employees dance during the opening.
Gas was $1.99 for regular on opening day.
Customers gas up at $1.99 a gallon for regular.
Wally Goose and Shorti the hoagie greet visitors inside the store.
The national anthem is played during the grand-opening ceremony.
The Wawa is the first to open in Duval County.
Wawa is at 6787 Wilson Blvd.
Wawa opened its first Duval and Clay county stores at 8 a.m. Wednesday, offering free coffee and $1.99 gas. They remain open 24 hours a day.
The Duval store at 6787 Wilson Blvd. on the Westside brought in the Edward H. White High School band, a Navy color guard, city officials and company executives, along with store mascots Wally Goose and Shorti the hoagie.
“Wawa has turned a once-blighted corner into something nice for this community,” said City Council member Garrett Dennis, who represents District 9.
Wawa opened at Wilson Boulevard and Lane Avenue.
Wawa also opened at 678 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park. It intends to open Dec. 21 at 4866 Gate Parkway near St. Johns Town Center.
Pennsylvania-based Wawa has big plans for Northeast Florida and intends to have nine stores open by year-end 2018.
Six stores will open next year and 16 sites are under contract. Wawa envisions the area as a 30- to 40-store market, said Brian Schaller, chief real estate and fuel officer for Wawa.
Wawa, which is based in Pennsylvania and operates in six states, said it has 5,000 employees in Florida, with plans for 10,000.
Wawa stores employ an average of 40 people.
“There’s 40 people with a better quality of life,” Dennis said.
