Two area “Super” Wawas for Erial and Washington Township are at the final phases of being developed and having inventory placed, with opening dates expected for this month (November 2023)
Erial: The new Wawa for the Erial section of Gloucester Township has a tentative date to open on November 16th. A classic Wawa one mile away in Pine Hill will close at the same time.
Washington Twp: Two weeks later another Wawa is expected to open in the area, this one at the “Five Points” intersection of Washington Township on November 30th. A classic Wawa about 1.5 miles away on Route 41 in Deptford is expected to close at the same time as this new opening.
At the Washington Township property, a Burger King is also being developed immediately next to Wawa. While Burger King also appears to be far along in the development process… I do not have a date on that opening just yet.
Just this morning the Washington Township Police Department shared photos on Facebook of their visit to the upcoming Wawa… Inside the store! You can check out those images here.
Both of these Wawa projects have been long-awaited by area residents, as construction industry impacts from the pandemic added to the timeframe of both projects starting.
For the Erial Wawa I first reported on it back in July of 2020, just as they were heading to the Gloucester Township Zoning Board, looking for approval.
Three years for a project like this to go through the approval process for the town and county, as well as finalizing property acquisitions and demolitions… is not too bad actually.
Gloucester Township also recently welcomed a new Wawa on Blackwood-Clementon Rd (August)
In Washington Township, I first reported on the Five Points Wawa location back in November 2018. The opening is scheduled to 5 years almost to the day that I first reported on it.
That being said, I was very early in reporting on the Washington Township Wawa, as I based that coverage off of a commercial real estate site’s early marketing efforts which were targeted at finding a second tenant for the extended property. (which became Burger King).
The Washington Township Wawa went to Township Planning Board in November 2019 (a year after my first article). So it has been four years to get to the opening date of the popular convenience store… with some of that extra delay attributed to finalizing the property site plan.
Wawa Erial – Gloucester Township
The new Wawa in Erial is at the corner of Erial-Clementon Road and Erial-New Brooklyn Road. This intersection also has a Rite Aid pharmacy and the Erial fire department.
Almost caddy-corner from this new Wawa is a small independent convenience store which was originally developed as a classic Wawa.
For the new super Wawa location in Erial, previously on the property was a Royal Bank of America branch which had opened in 2012 and close not much later.
Along Erial-Clementon road, three residential properties were also purchased to make room for the new Wawa. All four of those buildings were demolished.
This project had an interesting delay related to the pandemic. One of the tenants living in the homes (which needed to be demolished) utilized New Jersey’s temporary restrictions on moving tenants out, and extended their stay in the property… which in turn delayed the construction of the Wawa.
The layout of the Erial property features a classic Wawa configuration with the gas pumps positioned in front of the store… Both aspects run in line with Erial-Clementon Rd.
A water retention basin sits close to the intersection.
There are three driveway entrances into the property.
In my visit two days ago you can clearly see that all of the landscaping is done, the grass sod is in place, and they were just doing final cleanup ahead of loading in inventory.
Wawa Erial has an expected opening date of November 16th.
Wawa Five Points – Washington Township
The new Wawa in Washington Township at Five Points is located along Egg Harbor Rd. On a new extended property created by the relocation of Blackwood-Barnsboro Rd.
The Wawa sits in the intersection space but is set back a bit. The building placement is also a traditional style with the gas pumps in front and Wawa further in the back.
As mentioned this new “island” property was created by the road realignment. It also has a Burger King being developed next to Wawa.
Coincidentally both properties seemed to kick in at the same time and the Burger King also looks like it’s getting close with even the signage in place.
For the Egg Harbor Road entrance, it is right-turn in only (and exit). Cars will enter directly into the Wawa parking lot, but the lots for Burger King and Wawa are connected.
A full-turn entrance is on Blackwood-Barnsboro road in the back. This entrance provides access to the traffic signal, so that traffic can head towards Rt 47 and Rt 41.
For those in Deptford who live near the Rt 41 Wawa which is closing (me!).. this will likely add a fair amount of travel time to the Wawa as we have to move through the 5-Points traffic light, the new Blackwood-Barnsboro traffic light, and then drive around to the back of the Wawa.
But I am excited to have the full “Super Wawa” in the area.
Wawa Washington Township has an expected opening date of November 30th.
Links and Locations
Wawa Erial (Opening Nov 16)
Erial-Clementon Road and Erial-New Brooklyn Road
Erial (Gloucester Twp), NJ
Wawa Washington Twp 5-Pts (Opening Nov 30)
Egg Harbor Road and Blackwood-Barnsboro Rd
Washington Township NJ