CHERRY HILL — Wawa is quietly rolling out a major menu expansion — pizza.
The convenience-store chain, which recently opened its 1,000th store, is currently baking pies at about half of its locations. The goal is to reach all Wawa sites by the end of this month, said spokeswoman Lori Bruce.
Until then, Wawa isn’t saying much about its entry into the country’s $46 billion pizza trade.
Does my Wawa have pizza?
Bruce noted Wawa’s pies come in two sizes — 14 or 16 inches — and can be ordered daily from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m.
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They come in “several popular varieties and combinations including plain, pepperoni, and sausage and mushroom,” she said.
“No additional details at this time,” Bruce declared in an email. “When the launch is complete, a campaign will be planned.”
A reporter who visited a Wawa in Cherry Hill on Wednesday night saw only two small signs on a counter, showing a pepperoni-studded slice connected to a pie by just a few cheesy strands.
“It’s a pizza night,” proclaimed the signs, which included a crescent moon and noted the 4 p.m. start for orders.
The in-store process for ordering a pizza would be familiar to any Wawa patron: You tap at a touch screen — the same one used for hoagies — to choose your pie’s size and toppings.
Periodically, the screen will interrupt to ask if you’d like fries or garlic knots with your pizza.
Or a milkshake and a dessert.
What’s on a Wawa pizza?
Prices start at $12.99 for a 14-inch plain pizza, but rise to $14.99 for the same pie with mushrooms.
A 16-inch veggie pizza — with green peppers, red onions and mushroom — costs $18.49.
In one way, the pizza order can flout a basic tenet of convenience stores. Customers face a 20-minute wait until their pie’s baked and their order number is called.
Then you just carry away your pie in a red-and-white pizza box with the message: A little slice of Wawa.
The new product is appearing as Wawa, which began in the South Jersey-Philadelphia area, is pushing into new geographic markets.
The privately held firm, based in suburban Philadelphia, already operates in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida.
It broke ground in May for its first store in North Carolina. The company plans to open a store in Georgia next year and to expand to Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at jwalsh@cpsj.com.
