Wawa to open at Broad and Walnut Streets

Michael Klein, Philly.com

Homegrown convenience grocer Wawa plans to announce that it will open a store at the former Robinson's Luggage store at the southeast corner of Broad and Walnut Streets.

A Wawa rep told me Sunday that the site is under contract, and that the company is working to obtain approvals in time for an April 16 announcement.

Wawa's opening a large (5,300-square-foot) store at one of Center City's busiest intersections could be considered a small step in retailers' acknowledging the booming Center City population. In December, grocery goliath Ahold USA, which operates Giant of Carlisle, Pa., opened a supermarket called Everything Fresh at 1222 Walnut St. It bills it as an experimental urban store.

The new Wawa will have seating inside, one source told me.

People have dined casually at this very location, albeit not on Shorti hoagies.

It was a Horn & Hardart's from the late 1950s till the early '80s, shortly before Robinson's came along in 1984. (See the Philaphilia blog for a short history.)

The family-owned Robinson's closed at the end of 2013.
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