Wawa in Vienna, Virginia, at 465 W. Maple Ave.
Wawa is opening the doors to its new store in Vienna Thursday morning, complete with old staples and new treats.
The more-than-a-convenience-store with a cult following is opening at the corner of West Maple Avenue and Nutley Street in Vienna, with ample parking.
There is no gas at the Vienna store, but it will offer convenience favorites plus newer items like customizable salads and quinoa bowls, more iced coffee options, and an expanded selection of local beers and wines. Wawa's famous hoagies are on the menu, along with club sandwiches and quesadillas, too.
The next stores to open will be in Fairfax City (at a former Rite Aid) and in Manassas.
What about Alexandria?
The Alexandria area was supposed to get its own Wawa at 6711 Richmond Hwy., taking the place of a former Rite Aid. Wawa purchased the building and had plans to open in 2021.
But this spring, Fairfax County's plans to widen Richmond Highway got in the way, literally. Widening the highway means taking land from the Wawa property, and that means less space for parking. Opening a Wawa there "no longer made sense," said Regional Manager Nathan Bates at the Vienna opening.
The Rite Aid on Richmond Highway closed in June 2018 and the building has been vacant since.
Wawa has hundreds of locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and Florida. There are now 90 Wawa stores in Virginia (including Vienna) and several dozen more are on the horizon.
Bates said Wawa is scouting out other Alexandria area locations.
Until then, the closest Wawa stores to Alexandria area are the new Vienna store and several in the District.
