Throwback Thursday: Hoagie culture and the arrival of Wawa in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — This week’s Throwback Thursday is a little different.

Instead of digging through the WWAY archives, I stepped out of them and into a personal story that connects to something I’ve known for years: Wawa.

I brought along my friend Sam as we visited the new Wawa in Wilmington, the first location in the Cape Fear as the chain expands into North Carolina.

For me, Wawa has always been more than just a place to grab food. It’s a familiar stop that, for a lot of people who grew up with it, feels like home.

“I’m gonna do a nice hoagie today, probably go with an Italian,” Sam said as he started building his order.

And while I joked that Wawa had been there for some of life’s biggest moments, for many fans it really does carry that kind of nostalgia and loyalty.

“Wawa baby! It’s Hoagiefest!” Bennet Dunlap cheered during the store’s pre-opening celebration a few weeks ago.

Wawa is a convenience store chain that started in the Philadelphia region and has since expanded along the East Coast, but for fans it’s about more than gas pumps and snacks.

“It’s a community,” Kimball Dunlap said.

At the Wilmington opening, that sense of community was on full display, with many customers repping Philadelphia sports teams and sharing a common connection to the brand.

“People get it wrong. Wawa is a food store that sells gas, not a gas station that sells food. Great hoagies, great snacks,” Benett Dunlap said.

“The coffee is the best, the made-to-order hoagies,” Robin Tams said.

“And they call them hoagies here, not subs,” Chris Tams added.

Wawa officials say North Carolina is a major part of their expansion plans, with 90 locations expected across the state in the coming years.

“We’re very, very serious about North Carolina, in fact so much so that we already have 10 sites under contract just for Wilmington,” said Joe Collins, Wawa director of store operations.

As for Sam’s order, it eventually got finished.

“Tastes like home,” he said.

“Yeah it does,” I agreed.

This segment is part of WWAY’s weekly Throwback Thursday series, which typically looks back at stories from our archives, but may occasionally take a detour to explore personal experiences.