Founded in 1964 as a roadside dairy market, Wawa’s evolution throughout the years – it’s now “muscling out of the gas-station ghetto to compete with the likes of Panera and Starbucks” – has been carefully orchestrated, writes Maria Aspan for Inc. magazine.

“After decades of pushing cheap gas and cigarettes and made-to-order sandwiches to suburban crowds, Wawa is starting to de-emphasize two of the three,” writes Aspan. “The current CEO, Chris Gheysens, is swapping in Tesla charging stations, kale salads, and small-batch coffee, most of which customers can order on their phones.”

It’s what Gheysens calls a “barbell” strategy: “continue to offer the cheap staples that attracted longtime customers, while expanding into cities as the newest health-conscious, casual-lunch option.”

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“We’ll open up a store this year in Center City Philadelphia that won’t sell cigarettes,” he said. “It won’t have gas.”

Wawa, which has 800-plus stores and 30,000 employees along the East Coast, claims $10 billion in annual revenue. Industry leader 7-Eleven, which has more than 10 times the number of stores as Wawa, brings in a reported $29 billion each year.

Click here to read more about Wawa in Inc. magazine.

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