By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

In central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania Wawa would seem to be a kind of obsession.

The convenience store is practically legendary.

Kissimmee and Orlando are about to find out what all the fuss is about. The first Wawa store opens in less than a month.

“Our first wave of Florida stores will open in the Greater Orlando area beginning in July,” Lori Bruce, spokesperson for Wawa said this week.

“Our first site will be located directly across from SeaWorld, and will open on July 18,” she said.

The two Kissimmee Wawa stores will open shortly afterward. The store at 2184 E. U.S. Highway 192 has a tentative Aug. 1 opening and the one at 2499 N. Orange Blossom Trail is scheduled to open Aug. 8.

Two more Orlando area Wawa stores also will open in the coming weeks.

“We can’t wait to open our doors to our new Florida family and are excited to quickly expand into the Greater Orlando area and begin offering our new customers our unique brand of appetizing convenience.” Bruce said.

What sets Wawa apart from the normal convenience store is its large “kitchen” area, full of fresh baked goods, soups and, the item that made Wawa a Mid-Atlantic region favorite, the hoagie.

The chain is almost known as the birthplace of the hoagie, a submarine sandwich unique to Central New Jersey and the Philadelphia area, which is where Wawa got its start.

The stores sell more than 54 million made-to-order hoagies each year.

Wawa, which operates more than 570 stores in the Middle Atlantic region, got its start as a textile company back in 1803 and the Wawa dairy was started in Wawa, Pa., in 1902 (the name comes from a local native American tribe for its favorite game bird, the Canada goose.

In addition to the hoagie, the stores also make their own brand of freshly brewed coffee (there are many varieties); and side orders.

Wawa also sells gasoline and offers surcharge-free ATM machines.

Most of the stores also are open 24-hours, 365 days a year.

The Florida stores will offer a completely new look and design as well with the kitchen area being the focal point.

Officials said the stores would be designed to have the look and feel of the Sunshine State.

“Every new store we open creates 35 new jobs, all of which are new positions brought to the area through the development of new stores,” Bruce said.

More Wawa stores are planned for the future in the Orlando area, including a store in St. Cloud.