Florida has more Wawa locations than Jersey now — and that’s a disgrace

Wawa having the most locations in Florida is a complete and utter travesty. There’s no sugarcoating this one—our beloved hoagie haven has packed its bags, put on some SPF 50, and officially gone full snowbird.

According to recent data, Florida now has more Hogies Fest stores than New Jersey, with Pennsylvania trailing even further behind. Let me repeat that so it sinks in: Florida now wears the crown as the Wawa capital of the world. Disgusting.

Wawa’s Florida Takeover is a Slap in the Face

This isn’t just some quirky stat. It’s a betrayal. For generations, Wawa was a rite of passage for anyone growing up in the Delaware Valley. Your first Shorti. The touchscreen order that made you feel like a tech wizard at 10 years old. The gigantic pickle bucket. Hoagiefest. All of it. That was ours. And now it’s being mass-produced next to every retirement community and golf course across the Sunshine State.

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Sure, our convenience store of choice has been expanding like crazy since entering Florida in 2012—roughly 25 stores a year. But there was always an unspoken understanding that this was just a business move. Now? More than a quarter of all Wawa stores are in Florida. That’s no expansion—that’s full-blown colonization.

Wawa Still Gets the Job Done

Listen, I know people love to say Wawa “isn’t what it used to be.” And I get it. It’s not the same experience we had growing up. But let’s be honest—Wawa still clears the bar. It’s still better than 7-Eleven, Royal Farms, Sunoco, or whatever sad excuse for a convenience store your GPS throws at you on a road trip. There’s a reason people cry when they move away and realize there’s no Wawa within 100 miles. It’s comfort. It’s efficiency. It’s home.

But now, the heart and soul of that experience is being exported to places where people call subs “sandwiches” and think scrapple is a bad word. You think some guy in Boca Raton truly appreciates a Classic Italian? Please.

What Happens Next?

The colonization is already in motion. They’re expanding into the Midwest—Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky. Great. Good for them. But let’s not forget where this all started. Let’s not let a gas station empire built on Shore trips and Flyers losses get swallowed by palm trees and pastel polos. This place isn’t supposed to smell like sunscreen—it’s supposed to smell like coffee, soft pretzels, and half-decent decisions made at 2 a.m.

At the very least, we should never live in a world where Florida gets to claim more Wawas than Jersey. That’s like saying Taylor Swift is from Kansas. Technically you could argue it—but we all know the truth.

Wawa is ours. And it’s time they remembered that.