NJ no longer the Wawa capital, you’ll never guess which state is

Is this news no one saw coming?

New Jersey is known for certain things. The Diner Capital of the World. The music of Bon Jovi and Springsteen. Pork roll (or Taylor ham, I’m not looking for trouble). Pizza. Bagels. Not pumping gas.

And without a doubt, Wawa.

I’m not saying Wawa is the official store of the Garden State, but if such a category were invented by the legislature, are you going to tell me it wouldn’t pop into your head as an answer immediately?

We have 293 locations of this beloved convenience store across our state. Years ago, it was a real iykyk situation. But what was first mostly known in South Jersey, then Central, eventually became a household name even in North Jersey. Heck, North Jersey even gives them a hall pass on calling their subs hoagies. Everyone seems to love this iconic brand.

It started in Pennsylvania, but even there, in their home state, we outnumber them. They have 263. We have 293.

We’ve been the king. The heavyweight champion. Undisputed.

Until now.

Another state has surpassed us in the number of Wawa locations, and I feel like we were asleep at the wheel on this thing. Did anyone even warn us we were about to fall behind? Did we even know the title was on the line? I sure didn’t.

But now word has been passed.

Florida now has more Wawas than we do. 304. And I couldn’t be more disgusted.

First of all, do they even deserve a Wawa? For these swamp-dwelling gator-chasing melanoma-challenging people to think they’re superior to us in any way is an affront. Aren’t these slack-jaws more the Buc-ee’s type? And they have those already, with more on the way, so keep your flaking, sunburnt hands off our Wawa!

And they did it so quickly. I was reading that the first Wawa entered Florida in 2012. In 13 years, they went from none to beating us with 304? Is there an appeals process?

Yes, this sounds hyperbolic. But imagine being told in the 70s somewhere else had more drive-in movie theaters or hearing in the 80s another state had higher hair.

This just feels wrong.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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