Central Kentucky’s first Wawa opens Friday in Nicholasville. Here’s what to expect
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wawa set to open first Central Kentucky store Sept. 12 in Nicholasville.
- Convenience store chain anticipates operating 40 total Kentucky locations with 1,400 jobs projected.
- Store launch includes charity donations and free coffee.
Central Kentucky’s first Wawa is ready to open its doors.
The convenience store and 20-pump gas station known across the Northeast for its coffee, breakfast sandwiches and hoagies will open Sept. 12 in Nicholasville at 3000 Lexington Road. The Jessamine County city is about 30 minutes south of Lexington.
The Pennsylvania-based chain has built a cult-like following on the back of high-quality branded products, made-to-order fresh food and consistency, customers said.
The Nicholasville location is the chain’s third to open in Kentucky this year. Doors open at 8 a.m. Friday followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30.
VIP customers got an inside look at the store on Sept. 10.
Wawa employees walked through the crowd gathered in the store handing out samples of sandwiches, cookies, mac and cheese, meatballs, brownies, smoothies and other items from the menu. Those same customers helped themselves to coffee and soda while music played through speakers before remarks from the store’s leadership.
Marie Slone, a Jessamine County resident who works in retail close to Wawa, said she’s heard a lot of great things about the brand from friends and family. She loved trying the meatballs and is excited to stop in the store to grab a breakfast burrito before work.
“The novelty of it (makes this a unique experience),” she said. “Plus, it’s just a little above a regular gas station. It’s better quality. And in one stop, you can get everything.”
Jessamine County Judge Executive David West, wearing a black Wawa uniform Wednesday, completed the ceremonial building of Central Kentucky’s first hoagie: turkey and pepper jack cheese with tomatoes, onions, jalepenos and spicy ranch.
On Friday when the store opens, the first 250 customers will get free, limited-edition T-shirts listing the chain’s existing and forthcoming Kentucky locations on the back, akin to a shirt you might get from your favorite band’s concert tour.
Following the ribbon-cutting, Nicholasville police and fire departments will compete in a hoagie-building competition. Wawa is donating $1,000 to each department’s charity of choice.
Can’t make it Friday for in-store festivities? From Sept. 12-14, Wawa will offer free, hot, any-size coffee.
Friday also marks the start of the store’s “Lending a Helping Hoagie” campaign during which a percentage of the first week of hoagie sales will go to Kentucky-based God’s Pantry Food Bank.
Fayette County resident Michael Applegate drove down to Nicholasville Wednesday to get into the store first with other VIP customers. His father’s side of the family is from a town just outside Philadelphia where Wawa is dominant in the market, and his grandmother lived in Florida where there was a Wawa just down the street.
“Anytime we wanted a snack, that’s where we’d go to get chicken fingers, fries, sandwiches, milkshakes, candy, coffee, whatever we wanted,” he said. “When I heard that there was one coming nearby, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome.’”
Shelves inside the store are stocked with Wawa-branded items. Everything from ice cream to bottled peach tea is adorned with Wally Goose, the brand’s mascot that pays homage to the store’s roots in Pennsylvania and as a dairy farm. But Wawa also sells convenience store staples: Sour candy, chocolate, chips, snack cakes, Lunchables, beef jerky and more.
The Nicholasville location is the first in the Lexington area. The first Kentucky Wawa opened July 24 near Okolona in Louisville off the Gene Snyder Freeway. The second Wawa opened Sept. 5 also in Louisville on Bardstown Road near Fegenbush Lane.
But Wawa isn’t stopping at just Central Kentucky and Louisville.
By the end of 2025, Wawa plans to have eight stores operating in Kentucky. It plans to build between five and eight stores annually until it reaches 40 locations across the commonwealth. Wawa has 20 sites under contract in Boone, Bullitt, Campbell, Fayette, Hardin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Oldham, Scott, Shelby, Simpson and Warren counties.
On average, Wawa spends more than $7.5 million to build each store and typically utilizes more than 140 local contractors. Once stores open, an average of 35 people are employed at each location. By the time the chain’s 40 locations open, Wawa expects to have created 1,400 jobs across Kentucky.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 4:33 PM.
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