After opening stores in Deltona and Orange City, Wawa has finally opened its doors at a store in DeLand.

A grand opening of its newest store at 1700 S. Woodland Blvd. was held Feb. 10, complete with a ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. featuring Wawa mascot Wally Goose, oversized scissors, red ribbon, confetti and fanfare.

Wawa officials toasted the athletes from Special Olympics Pennsylvania with a limited-edition specialty beverage called Gold Medal Hot Chocolate, with the company making a $50,000 donation to Special Olympics Athletes Training for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.

Wawa also recognized local first responders with its signature Hoagies for Heroes hoagie-building competition. Local first responders from the DeLand Police and Fire departments competed to see who could build the most hoagies in three minutes.

Wawa also presented checks for $1,000 to each department’s charity of choice.

Brandon Prieto will serve as general manager of the new DeLand Wawa store, leading a team of approximately 40 associates, all of whom will fill new positions brought to the area through the development of the store.

Associates in these full- and part-time positions will not only receive competitive salaries with an hourly starting rate of $15 and health benefits, but, once eligible, will participate in Wawa’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Wawa Associates own 40 percent of Wawa through the ESOP.

More information and current job opportunities can be viewed at www.wawa.com/careers.

The store is fully equipped with a built-to-order fresh food kitchen featuring its signature hoagies (80 million hoagies sold chainwide annually) and newest food innovations such as the ever-popular customizable burger; award-winning Wawa Coffee (195 million cups sold annually); the Sizzli™, Wawa’s hot breakfast sandwich; Wawa’s new line of specialty beverages (hot, cold, iced and frozen); Wawa Bakery; and Wawa’s beverage line of dairy products, juices and teas, plus packaged goods, fuel services, and many other amenities.

The DeLand location is the third store to open this year out of the 54 total stores projected to open across Wawa’s operating area in 2022. Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.

“At Wawa, our core purpose is fulfilling lives every day and since our first store opened, we’ve believed that we all have a role in making this world a better place,” Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “Our store teams and associates deliver experiences and emotional connections with customers that go beyond what traditionally happens in a retail environment. Simply put, they help make their communities happier and more connected.”

Wawa Inc., a privately held company, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. It offers freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs.