Wawa Celebrates 35th Birthday on 34th Street

Wawa customers dashing into the 34th Street store for a quick hoagie or cup of coffee were greeted by a spectacle on Thursday afternoon: loud music, line dancing at the deli, costumed characters, photographers, and customers and employees sashed like beauty queens.

The fun was all part of the store's anniversary celebration on Thursday, 35 years after it first opened in 1978.

The ceremony recognized loyal customers and employees, included free coffee for everybody, and featured the donation of $180,088 to the New Jersey Coalition For Battered Women. The money was raised by in-store donations throughout New Jersey in the first quarter of 2013.

Ocean City is one of 65 stores nationwide celebrating in 2013 an anniversary of 25, 30, 35, 40 or 45 years. The first Wawa Food Market opened in Folsom, Pa. in 1964. Wawa started in the 19th century as the Millville Manufacturing Company in nearby Cumberland County in New Jersey.