If you turned the W’s to V’s, and opened up a store that looked exactly the same, you could do 1.5x more than a current Wawa. I don’t think people would feel tricked if they make the changes I outline below.
I’ve been an avid Wawa shopper for years. I’ve seen the menu expand past the point of stupidity (think pizza and poorly produced wraps) and the Sizzlies turn from an above average breakfast option to on par with a microwaved Jimmy Dean. The current store is a formula which works great to scale, but kills the uniqueness. It’s incredible that I can go to a Wawa in Elkton, MD and have the same experience as one in Levittown, PA. They both produce a large offering of blue collar laborers eating breakfast and lunch. I’ve never understood how guys can start their day with a Code Red Mountain Dew and some Entenmann’s doughnuts. Wawa should be an option for a quality, fast meal, but when that option turns into a poorly made, slow disappointment because of the chains popularity, it’s time to look elsewhere.
Pricing is the first question mark. If I were to get a turkey club, a 28 oz Gatorade (where’d the 4 oz’s go?), and a bag of Smartfood, that can cost $15. That’s insane. I’m 100% for capitalism, and if I’m stupid enough to pay it, they should charge it, however, that’s probably a 700% profit margin on that Gatorade. Trust me, I get it insurance, employees, theft, and a laundry list of other reasons why they need that margin to make money, but at some point, you’ve outgrown yourself if you need to charge those prices because economies of scale should make your pricing go down.
Quality is the next consideration as the food is par. It used to be better. You can’t have 100 menu items with 15 year olds making them. It doesn’t jive. Make 10 items well, not 150 shitty. Once again the counter argument is that people enjoy variety. Amazon became one of the largest online market places because of this idea. However, the boutique shopping experience feels nice. Once you leave that, you turn into a giant piece of shit.
What I’d do with VaVa is go back to the roots. High quality items at good prices. Use fresher bread. Better ingredients. Don’t cut costs. Charge customers more. Make people want to be an employee instead of making money at a job. Wawa has lost that and even though the business probably won’t suffer, they will lose me as a valuable customer. I’ll always shop there, it’s too convenient not to, but if I was a 5k a year customer (don’t forget gas), I may become a 1k customer. My personal preference is more money out of less people is a better experience for all. Unfortunately, this is not the Wawa way.
Recent Comments