Another Wawa is closing in Center City, the ninth to close since 2020. When closures happened in 2022 the company cited crime in the city as the reason why. The location at 16th and Ranstead will close on Sunday, Dec. 8. NBC10’s Leah Uko has more.
Another Wawa is closing in Center City Philadelphia, making it the next in a series of closures.
This time it is the store located at 16th and Ranstead streets in Center City, near the Shops at Liberty Place.
It will officially be closing on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.
The store has already begun preparing by taking away the aisles and little products on the shelves.
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The store has a sign posted notifying customers of the closure.
“Some people don’t have a car. This is a walkable city. And we don’t want to uber just to get Wawa. It provides jobs for people too,” Ci’Yon Tribble, a Wawa customer said.
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This is the ninth Wawa to close in Philadelphia since 2020. Back in 2022 when the Wawa located at 11th and Market closed, the company cited crime in the city as the reason why.
“People are stealing—all the time. That’s why they’ve got to close—this particular spot, it’s why they’ve got to close. Security is useless,” Greg Martucci, another customer, said.
“16th and Ranstead store initially opened in 2020 as a pilot test of a smaller urban store concept, which also included a walk-up window. However, due to its limited size, we have determined that we are not able to provide the same kind of in-store experience and full Wawa offer that customers expect,” a spokesperson with Wawa said in a statement sent to NBC10.
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The closed sign lists two other Center City locations that remain open: the one at 9th and Walnut, and 17th and Arch.
Other Center City area Wawas include the stores at 6th and Chestnut streets and 22nd and South streets.
Wawa says every employee at this location has been offered a job at other nearby Wawa stores.
“People took advantage of things that they really just didn’t need to and seeing it close down — it kind of sucks because I’ll miss a lot of great people,” Semaj, an employee at the Wawa store that’s closing, said.
Correction (Dec. 6, 2024, 12:23 p.m.): This story has been updated to properly reflect how many other Wawa locations remain in Center City Philadelphia.
