Dive Brief:

• Wawa is planning to open its first drive-thru locations made using modular construction methods. The buildings are largely fabricated off-site, with the pieces then assembled on location, a spokesperson for Modlogiq, the modular construction company the c-store chain is working with, confirmed in an email.
• The first of these locations will open in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania — about 60 miles north of the retailer’s headquarters of Wawa, Pennsylvania — on Feb. 8, said the Modlogiq spokesperson. 
• This new building program, which many restaurant chains have embraced in recent years, comes amid Wawa’s massive expansion push aimed at nearly doubling its store count between 2023 and 2030 and bringing the retailer to seven new states.

Dive Insight:

As Wawa seeks to grow in multiple parts of the country at once, this prefabricated construction program could make the building process easier and get stores online quicker.

Creating the majority of a new building off-site can offer several benefits for retailers, including faster overall builds and lower chances of weather impacting either materials or the company’s ability to access the site.

Prefabricated construction has become popular in the restaurant industry, the Modlogiq spokesperson said, especially for small-format stores. Recently, Rego Restaurant Group partnered with BCubed Manufacturing to develop prefabricated drive-thrus for Quiznos and Taco Del Mar. In addition to its work with Wawa, New Holland, Pennsylvania-based Modlogiq has done modular builds for QSRs in Pittsburgh and several sites for Starbucks.

The modular Wawa locations are built in a warehouse over a period of about 40 days, after which they can be assembled at the location in a matter of days and be ready for a certificate of occupancy within 20 working days.

“Not only is this a new store for Wawa, but it's a new program,” said Greg Oniskey, director of sales for Modlogiq , in a video on the company’s LinkedIn page talking about the first of these modular stores in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. 

Wawa did not respond to a request for comment.

Modlogiq has worked on a total of four Wawa locations using the Trexlertown store as a prototype, the construction company’s spokesperson said. The next store opening with this design will be in Largo, Florida. The store features two drive-thru menu boards and lanes.

The menus at Wawa’s drive-thru locations focus on the company’s signature foodservice items, including its hoagies, burgers, quesadillas, wraps, coffee, recharger drinks and more. A selection of other drink and snack items are also available, including chips, energy drinks and candy bars.

Drive-thru sites are fairly new to Wawa’s repertoire. It first announced the initiative in August 2020, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In September, Wawa also rolled out a “next generation” store design that features a revamped entryway, raised ceiling, larger windows and a “warm and inviting” color palette. The retailer also debuted its first fully shelfless, digital c-store in August.

Wawa operates over 1,000 stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington D.C.