Wawa is opening its third New Hanover County store in less than four months, with a grand opening set for 7:55 a.m. next Thursday, September 17, at 9010 Senca Drive in the Scotts Hill area of Wilmington. The celebration will include confetti, live music, the chain's mascot Wally Goose, and a hoagie-building competition pitting teams of local first responders against one another.
The new location, first approved by New Hanover County in November 2023 under the project name Scotts Hill Medical Wawa Convenience Store and Fuel Station in a B-1 business zone, caps a rapid rollout across the county. As Port City Daily reports, the chain opened its first New Hanover County store on Carolina Beach Road in late May, followed by a second location on South 17th Street in mid-August, putting three Wawa stores in the county within roughly four months.
What to Expect at the Scotts Hill Grand Opening
Store manager Kate Reeder will lead a countdown before the doors open at 8 a.m., and customers are invited to take part in a ceremony celebrating the new store and its team. The festivities will feature Wawa's Parade of the Ages, a walk-through display highlighting company milestones, according to the same report. The first 250 customers through the door will receive a free t-shirt while supplies last, and free hot coffee of any size will be available at the store through September 20.
The Hoagies for Heroes contest will pit teams of local first responders against each other in a hoagie-building showdown. Through its philanthropic arm, The Wawa Foundation typically awards $1,000 grants to charities chosen by first responders during these competitions, alongside contributions to regional nonprofits like the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, according to a report from the Outer Banks Voice covering the chain's earlier North Carolina debut.
A Fast-Moving Statewide Expansion
Each new Wawa store represents more than $7.5 million in capital investment, roughly 140 construction jobs, and an average of 35 permanent positions once open, per company figures. Wawa made its official North Carolina debut in Kill Devil Hills on May 16, 2024, according to reporting from 13News Now, and the company has said it now plans to build and open six to eight stores per year statewide, part of a broader push to reach 90 North Carolina locations over the next eight to 10 years.
The chain operates as an associate-owned enterprise, with employees collectively holding a 39% stake in the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a structure Port City Daily has noted in its coverage of the local rollout. Between its 2024 statewide debut and this past spring, Wawa had already launched 17 stores across North Carolina as it works toward that longer-term goal.
Competition Heats Up Across the Cape Fear Region
The Scotts Hill opening lands amid an intensifying convenience-store buildout across the Cape Fear region. Rival chain Sheetz has opened locations on Carolina Beach Road and Shipyard Boulevard and submitted plans for additional stores on Market Street and US 421, according to WilmingtonBiz. Wawa's own pipeline extends further, with additional proposed or permitted sites on College Road, Market Street and Oleander Drive, plus planned expansion into neighboring Brunswick and Pender counties, the outlet reports.
Wawa's push into eastern North Carolina has also drawn real-estate investors, with Hoodline previously reporting on a $5.5M Goldsboro site sale tied to the chain's newly built locations elsewhere in the state. For now, Scotts Hill residents will get their first look at the Senca Drive store next Thursday morning, when the confetti flies and the doors open for business.
