Wawas Stayed Open Despite Blizzard

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. - The blizzard shut down city hall, schools and even major highways.

But no matter where you went there was one thing that remained open, even in the brutal conditions.

Fox 29 Consumer Reporter Michelle Buckman explains how Wawa managed to keep their doors open when everything else was closed.

"Our mission is to simplify the lives of our customers. So you obviously can't simplify the life of our customers unless we're open and ready for business," said Vic Musso, Wawa's director of store operations.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the Wawa closed.

"We had numerous people say, 'I can't believe you're open, thank God you're open, you know, we appreciate you being open,'" said Wawa Store Manager Scott Hambridge.

In the whiteout, that yellow and red sign was the one constant – Wawa was open.

Out of their 572 stores, only 19 closed, most due to power outages.

How did they do it? Wawa has a policy that, as soon as 3 inches accumulate, the snow plows hit the parking lot. Store managers put some employees up in hotels. Others drove into the blizzard to pick them up.

"There's no quit in Wawa," Hambridge said.

The Delaware County manager said even the parents of his young employees pitched in, offering a snow shuttle for co-workers.

"They were un-intimidated by the snow," he said. "Clair and Jim Sloan, Thank you."

Most of all, Wawa stayed open to support the tireless plow guys and gals.

"They needed a place where they could go to the bathroom, get something to eat, refuel, get something to drink, get energy drinks, which we sold a lot of," Hambridge said.

Coffee and hoagies were the other big sellers.

But even though, in many cases, they were the only game in town, sales were down compared to a normal work week.

"If I was to rough guess, I would say we're going to spend $4 million, $5 million in snow plowing," Musso said. "And when you start factoring in the expenses, you probably end up in the hole. But, again, we're here for a service, and we've got to provide a service. So that's why were here."

And you can be sure your neighborhood Wawa will be there for whatever else Mother Nature has in store, Buckman reported.