Yet another Philadelphia Wawa is packing it up and calling it quits from the city.
The most recent location is at Headhouse Square, located in the middle of Society Hill, an otherwise affluent neighborhood on extending north from the tourist-area of South Street.
Resident Howard Wool said in reaction to a statement from the Society Hill Civic Association: "It's really shocking. This is a nice neighborhood. They got nice people here, but I guess it can happen anywhere in the city."
The statement, reported by Fox 29, warned of two different two strong-armed robberies over the last week at the TD Bank which is adjacent to the Wawa. The CVS located across the street from the Wawa had announced it would be closing down last year.
Wawa said in a statement that it "Constantly conducts careful and extensive evaluations of business performance and operational challenges of all stores on an ongoing basis."
Neighbor Dayna Sacharov said: "A lot of the homeless, but it's not that. It's like the kids on the bikes and the late-night people. They come in there and they steal stuff. They even hired a security guard."
"I think they’re not taking care of this district. It's out of control and they don't care anymore," Sacharov said of the Philadelphia Police. "This neighborhood is very exclusive. People see rich people here and they rob them too. It's not good for business," Wool added.
Philadelphia, and specifically Society Hill, leans far left and has consistently helped elect Democratic leaders who stand at odds with the city's police instead of supporting them.
This Wawa now joins a list of locations and companies that have closed up shop in Center City Philadelphia amidst a crime wave that has been sweeping U.S. cities following Covid lockdowns and George Floyd related protesting.
Recall back in October we wrote about Wawa closing 2 other locations in Philadelphia.
"We are very sorry we can’t be there for our friends and neighbors at these two locations, but we continue to serve the community from our other nearby stores and our commitment to the greater region remains strong. Philadelphia is our hometown and that’s something that will never change," the chain said last year.
Locations at 12th and Market and 19th and Market in Philadelphia have both shuttered.
Wawa spokesperson Lori Bruce said at the time: “Despite reducing hours and investing in additional operational measures, continued safety and security challenges and business factors have made it increasingly difficult to remain open in these two locations.”
