After hitting a few bumps along the way, everyone appears to be happy when it comes to the new Wawa on Haddonfield Road.
The Wawa held the grand opening for its newest location on Friday, Oct. 11 before a massive crowd of spectators, including local and state officials.
The store is located on the former Cherry Hill Toyota dealership site. After sitting vacant for three years, Wawa bought the property to build a convenience store and gas station.
Residents in the neighboring community originally objected to the project, citing traffic and noise concerns. They voiced their concerns when the Wawa application originally went to the planning board in the winter of 2012.
Township spokeswoman Bridget Palmer said the township’s community development team met with the residents and came up with solutions to address their concerns.
Changes were made to increase the buffer between the residential areas and the store, with a large wall and trees helping to block the extra lights. In addition, nearby Yale Avenue was closed and sodded over to prevent vehicles from driving through.
“Residents were very happy with the changes,” Palmer said. “We haven’t heard any complaints.”
The new Wawa is very different from other stores in that it has a number of new and improved features that older stores don’t yet have.
The most heralded new feature is a self-serve lottery machine. The new machine will allow customers to purchase any lottery ticket, including Powerball and Mega Millions, without having to wait in line at the register.
Jim Shortall, Wawa’s director of store operations, said the Cherry Hill Wawa is the second store to feature the machines. He stated Wawa eventually plans to roll them out to stores statewide in 2014.
The interior of the store also looks different. In the rear of the building is a semi-circular kitchen where all hot meals and sandwiches will be made.
“The new kitchen was designed for speed and quality,” Shortall said.
Other new features include entrances in the front and back of the store, a brick facade that heralds back to the older Wawa design and separate registers for purchasing tobacco.
Many of these changes are gradually being rolled out in Wawa’s new stores and could become more prevalent in the years ahead.
Cherry Hill Mayor Chuck Cahn summed up the atmosphere of the new store when he gave a few remarks on Cherry Hill’s newest business.
“When we work together collaboratively, we don’t just have an average Wawa, but a special Wawa,” he said.
