[Boku]

Better than another wireless provider store, I guess.

Another Wawa for Center City?

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...nter-city.html

Wawa Inc., in its quest to blanket Center City with its convenience stores, has signed a lease on space at 16th and Ranstead streets, according to people familiar with the deal.

The space totals about 3,000 square feet and is where an AT&T store was once located. The store will be Wawa’s ninth location in Center City and be the smallest. It is believed it will serve as a pilot for whether that smaller size will successfully work in Center City and, if it does, will be rolled out on a grander scale, according to someone familiar with Wawa’s strategy.

Lori Bruce, a spokesperson for Wawa, said she was unable to confirm the location or provide any information.

The retail property at 33-37 S. 16th St. is located in a prominent spot in Philadelphia’s Central Business District and sits directly across from Liberty Place. The unassuming building totals 10,000 square feet. The ground floor had been occupied by AT&T Mobile for 15 years but late in 2016, the telephone service provider did not renew its lease and moved to 15th and Walnut streets.

Another prominent feature of the property is it has 50 feet of frontage along 16th Street and good visibility. It is considered a “gateway” property to the retail district of 16th and Chestnut streets and is zoned CMX-5.

Wawa has been expanding in the city, throughout the suburbs and across the region. It entered Center City in 2015 with a 5,000-square-foot lease for a new store at Broad and Walnut streets and has been opening up new stores at a steady clip ever since.

Last year, it opened its largest store to date, which totaled 11,500 square feet at 6th and Chestnut streets across from Independence Hall. With the addition of a store at 16th and Ranstead, that will mean Wawa has a store on every block from 12th through 16th streets between Market and Walnut streets. While it appears from its recent openings that Wawa prefers large retail spaces on corners in Center City, the availability of such spaces is limited and has apparently forced the retailer to consider exploring a smaller format such as the one at 16th and Ranstead.

David Waxman of MM Partners, which is involved with a venture that owns the building, declined to comment.