April 03, 2015
In an open letter posted to Wawa’s Facebook page, one Delaware County native made her "last ditch effort" to keep the company's first store from closing.
The company plans to close the store early next year and open a “Super Wawa” location a half-mile away.
In the post, Jacqui Vivanco Hertlein, now a resident of Houston, Texas, said Wawa 1 in Folsom is part of her family.
"Some of you may think that it is weird to include a local grocery store as an important part of your family, but the truth is ... it's more than just a local grocery store," she wrote.
"Wawa 1 has been there for my family in the happiest of times and the saddest of times. My family members pass many Wawas each day to and from work, but the fact of the matter is ... we only stop at one. The original. Wawa 1. It has been our family's Wawa for over 45 years, and the news of it being knocked down and moved is tearing my sweet Pop's heart. It is a piece of American history, Delco history, and the Vivanco-Clark-Baker-Hertlein family history."
The Wawa 1 location at MacDade Boulevard and Swarthmore Avenue opened on April 16, 1964. Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce told NBC10 that the new location will still be known to them as store No. 1.
"This letter touched all of us here at Wawa as the Folsom store will always hold a special place in our hearts," Bruce told NBC10. "We will be reaching out to the family to connect with them and keep them informed as our plans take shape."
If Wawa razes its original home in 2016, Hertlein said the store will lose a customer.
"I know the new "super" Wawa will be fantastic as all others are. Just know that you will have one less customer .... my Pop. He is refusing to step foot into the new Wawa or any other for that matter because they are not HIS Wawa. The other Wawas will never be what the ORIGINAL is and was."
