Wawa, Inc.

Wawa, Inc., the Delaware Valley's largest chain of convenience stores, was formed in 1968 through the merger of two antecedent family businesses, the Millville Manufacturing Company and Wawa Dairy Farms. The firm adopted its current name in 1974.

These businesses were founded by the half-brothers David C. and Richard D. Wood in Cumberland County, N.J. and Philadelphia at the beginning of the 19th century. David C. Wood built the Cumberland Furnace in 1803 and constructed a larger furnace and foundry at Millville, N.J., in 1814. This plant came to specialize in the manufacture, first of stoves, and then of cast iron pipe. David C. Wood ran into financial difficulties in 1849-1850 and was bought out by Richard D. Wood, a successful Philadelphia drygoods merchant, who enlarged the operation. Richard built a cotton mill to utilize the excess water power on the site in 1854 and incorporated it as the Millville Manufacturing Company in 1865. He built a second cotton mill at Mays Landing, N.J., in 1867 and in the same year relocated the pipe-casting and foundry business to Florence, N.J., on the Delaware River north of Philadelphia.

At Richard Wood's death in 1869, his enterprises were inherited by his six sons. Gradually, George Wood assumed responsibility for the cotton mills and his brothers Walter and Stuart for the iron works. The latter passed out of the family when Walter Wood died childless in 1934.

Around 1890, George Wood bought several farms west of Media, Pa., as a summer retreat and there founded a new business, the Wawa Dairy Farms, in 1902. George's grandsons enlarged the business after World War II, and it became the dominant dairy in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.

In the early 1960s, conditions became critical, as supermarkets usurped the role of traditional dairies. Attempts to stay competitive in cotton by buying some small Southern mills had failed. The Woods responded by opening their first Wawa Food Market in 1964. The cotton business was liquidated between 1963 and 1965, and the proceed reinvested in convenience stores. By 1990 the company had 500 stores in five states, plus a central bottling plant, warehouse and distribution facilities.

From the description of Historical collection, 1737-1965. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122547865

Wawa, Inc. traces its roots to several business ventures started by the Philadelphia Quaker entrepreneur Richard D. Wood (1799-1869). One of these was an old-fashioned iron plantation at Millville, N.J., that had been established by his half-brother David C. Wood in 1803 and made stove plates and iron pipe. By the late 1840s, David C. Wood was in financial difficulties, a situation that was only resolved when Richard assumed complete control of the site in 1851. He modernized the pipe foundry and constructed a cotton mill (the Millville Manufacturing Company) and other enterprises to better utilize the available water power and develop the town. The textile business prospered under the leadership of one of Richard D. Wood's six surviving sons, George Wood (1842-1926), while the iron business passed into other branches of the family.

In 1892, George Wood bought a house in Wawa, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. ("Wawa" is a Native American word for "Canada goose.") Wood later acquired several more tracts of land on which he built a dairy and later a milk processing plant. This new venture, called Wawa Dairy Farms, began operations in 1902. The dairy specialized in "certified" (i.e., physician-inspected) products for the home delivery market. Wawa Dairy Farms sold its wares in Philadelphia and seasonally to customers on the New Jersey shore. By 1945 the dairy had become one of the most popular and visible aspects of the late George Wood's business ventures.

During the early 1960's Grahame Wood (1915-1982), George Wood's grandson, sought to revitalize Wawa Dairy Farms by finding new outlets for its products. Grahame researched convenience stores and concluded that retail food sales were a good way to tap growing consumer demand for quick and easy shopping. He organized a new company, called Wawa Food Markets, Inc., to establish outlets that sold Wawa Dairy Farms products as well as deli meats, fruits, vegetables, and other grocery goods in a convenience store setting. The first Wawa Food Market opened on 16 April 1964 in Folsom, Pennsylvania and became an almost instant success.

The many operations of Millville Manufacturing Company, particularly cotton textiles, began to decline in the 1950's. The company liquidated its textile operations along with some of its other subsidiaries throughout the 1960's. Millville Manufacturing Company absorbed both Wawa Dairy Farms and Wawa Food Markets, Inc., in 1968. Millville Manufacturing Company retained both Wawa names as "fictitious names," its intellectual property for business purposes, until it officially changed its name to Wawa, Inc. in 1974. Wawa, Inc. has grown into the dominant convenience store chain in the greater Philadelphia region, operating 570 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and employing over 17,000 people.

From the description of Wawa, Inc. public relations files, 1950-2008 (bulk, 1964-2004). (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 318652012