New Wawa opens in Pooler

POOLER, Ga. (WTOC) - Chatham County’s first Wawa is officially open and ready to serve customers.

The convenience store chain celebrated with a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning.

“I’ve been waiting. I’ve been complaining. I’ve been posting...So yes, I’m ready,” said Tee Harris, a Wawa enthusiast.

The line around Pooler’s very first Wawa convenience store was out the wazoo Thursday. Some enthusiasts of the chain camping out for hours before the doors even opened.

“I said a year ago, ‘I wanted to be the first person on line,” said Tripp Rodgers, a Wawa enthusiast. And he was at 4 in the morning.

Soon, over a hundred fans of the convivence store joined him in line to fuel up. However, gasoline isn’t the only fuel at the new store.

Hoagies and hot coffee are always available no matter the Wawa location.

Wawa representatives say their products and customer service continues to put them on different parts of the map.

“People tend to think we’re another gas station, but as you can see as you look around. We’re not. We are a fresh food convenience store. We started long before we had fuel. We were serving coffee and fresh foods and taking care of the community,” said Sheree Norris, a training general manager at Wawa.

From first-time customers to long-time Wawa fanatics, the new Pooler convivence store is stocked up with plenty of people’s on-the-road needs.

“Now I can have the amazing food 24/7. It’s like a little piece of my home in New Jersey is right here in Pooler,” said Gracie Ryan, a Wawa enthusiast.

This is the fourth Wawa in Georgia with up to six more expected by the end of 2025. Officials said Wawa plans to open more than 26 stores in the Peach State over the next five to eight years.

The stores combined are set to bring 900 jobs to Georgia.

The closest Wawa for some people in the Coastal Empire is almost an hour away over in Hinesville.

Now that there’s one nearby in the highly developed Pooler area, city officials are reminding folks to be patient on the roadway for the time being.

Pooler Mayor Karen Williams said, “again, I just ask for grace from our residents that during this grand opening and maybe the first week or two it’s going to have a lot of traffic there, but it won’t always be that way. And the improvements will help dramatically.”

Mayor Williams also says residents are excited to have a Wawa location in the city because it’s unlike any other convenience store in the area.

“Our residents ae looking for a diversity of businesses, not just another nail salon or another gas station or oil change. They do want diversity, and that’s what we are trying to do. We are trying to bring businesses that we don’t currently have.”