Definitely a rough start.
A week ago today, the 11th Wawa in Berks County opened in West Reading to much fanfare. As is tradition, visitors could pick up a free coffee, which undoubtedly came as a welcome prospect with temperatures dipping into the low-twenties.
Did we need this Wawa? Eh, probably not. I mean, there are now five Wawas in a five square mile radius. If you're obsessed with their coffee and sandwiches, then sure, you're probably thrilled. But there was a bit of an outcry when this location was first announced, with many residents claiming the last thing West Reading needed was another corporate gas station chain eyesore.
Admittedly, I'm firmly a Wawa enthusiast, with their round-the-clock hours a perfect response to my 2 a.m. hoagie cravings. Sadly, the food department is severely lacking at this stage.
First, the menu is awfully limited, with staples such as cheesesteaks missing entirely. There are also key ingredients, like raw onions, not available with no estimated timetable on when they'd return.
There would be times when this location would not appear in the Wawa app at all, and when it did, prices would not appear in the cart. Instead, you'd get a message saying "We're sorry! Tax amount is temporarily unavailable. When you pick up and pay at the store, tax will be added at the register." The problem is, not even the base price was showing up, so you'd have no idea what you were going to have to pay until you actually showed up at the store. It really defeated the whole point of using the app.
Service was also extremely slow, but I attribute that to being short staffed due to the holidays.
On a positive note, gas prices here are relatively low. Today, regular gas was sitting at $2.49 per gallon while all other Wawas just a few miles down the road in various directions were selling it for $2.66 per gallon. This could be perhaps an "introductory" rate and the price could normalize within a few weeks, but for now you might as well take advantage of the huge disparity. read more