Wawa starts Indiana expansion

Driving the news: Wawa plans to add as many as 280 new stores over the next decade in Indiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Ohio and Kentucky, Bloomberg recently reported.

• That target includes opening 60 stores in Indiana over the next 8-10 years.
• CEO Chris Gheysens described this plan as "the most aggressive growth" in the chain's history, per Bloomberg.

Zoom in: Wawa previously disclosed plans to open 16 Indiana locations this year in Marion, Hamilton, Johnson, Hendricks, Hancock, Clark, Madison, Dearborn, Delaware and Wayne counties.

• Indy locations are planned for West 86th Street and Zionsville Road, and East 96th Street and Delegates Row.
• Opening dates for these stores have not been announced yet.

Zoom out: In expanding, Wawa will have to figure out how to adjust based on the preferences of its new market.

• Fried chicken, Gheysens told Bloomberg, is a "convenience-store staple in the South, while customers in New Jersey might prefer hoagies."

💭 My thought bubble: I hope they don't adjust too much when they hit Central Indiana. In the six months I lived in Philadelphia after graduating from Purdue, I fell in love with Wawa's meatball and Italian hoagies. Never change, Wawa.

What we're watching: Where the other Indiana locations will be.

• Wawa considers several factors when determining where to open, including adequate nearby residential populations and sites at high-volume intersections.