Remember when the Wawa opened up at the corner of Broad and Walnut back in 2015? Big deal at the time. Huge store in a prime location.

“Whenever a new Wawa is a built, an angel gets his wings,” I think is the famous line from It’s a Wonderful Life.

Well the store is no more, as Wawa executives are shutting the doors for good and blaming the pandemic via this official statement:

August 1, 2020 Over the last few months, we have worked to navigate the challenges of COVID-19 and serve our communities through our role as an essential provider. Now, due to the unique circumstances that continue to impact our customers’ daily lives and our own store operations, we are saddened to say that we will not be reopening our Broad and Walnut store. This decision was a difficult one. But due to the impact from the pandemic coupled with some operational uncertainties of today, our long-term plans for this store are no longer viable.

That statement is mostly bullshit, since the store had problems with crime during its brief existence. Big crowds, long lines, bunch of unscrupulous and shady characters afoot. It was originally a 24-hour location, which changed after a pair of 2018 stabbings. Panhandling and homelessness was also a problem on that corner.

Local paparazzo HughE Dillon has the pulse of the town and wrote this about the news on his Philly Chit Chat blog:

8/3/20 at 1102AM – A few weeks ago I passed the Wawa at Broad & Walnut, and posted this message to my Instastories saying I would love if this Wawa didn’t open again. Today my wish came true. Although I loved this location, and the enormous selection, over time this Wawa has been a source of trouble, with an uptick of crime happening inside and outside of the store. Eventually they removed the chairs in the cafe area, and finally limited the hours. Then the Pandemic came, and limited folks walking on the street except for the folks you don’t want to meet, then the protests came, and it was boarded up. After a while the other Wawa’s around Center City started to open, but I noticed not this one did not.

RIP Wawa at Broad and Walnut.