By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

The wait is over — Wawa has finally arrived in Osceola County.

The convenience store, which has a rabid following in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, has entered Central Florida in a major way with the opening of a new Kissimmee store at 2184 E. U.S. Highway 192, the former site of Saturn of Osceola. It is the third Wawa opening in Florida.

Another Kissimmee Wawa store opens next Wednesday at 2499 N. Orange Blossom Trail, across from Starling Chevrolet.

Wawa, which is more restaurant than convenience store, opened in Kissimmee with a bang Wednesday morning with city and county officials at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and a charity hoagie-making competition between the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and the Osceola County Fire Rescue EMS.

“This has taken us 200 years,” (to arrive in Central Florida), said Carol Jenson, chief marketing officer. “And we are overjoyed to be here.”

Wawa has a long history in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that has included everything from an ironworks factory, opened in 1803, to a dairy farm. The company opened its first convenience store in 1964 and now there are about 600 stores, almost all in the Northeast.

Selling everything from quesadillas and smoothies to lobster bisque and New England clam chowder, it is the hoagie that has made Wawa famous.

At the opening of the first Florida Wawa last month in Orlando, the line was outside the door, with people standing in line for an hour to be among the first in Central Florida to buy the sub sandwich that helped give Wawa cult status. At least one Wawa fan slept on the premises the night before, waiting to be the very first customer, officials said.

Wawa even sponsored the first Hoagie Day in Philadelphia in 1992, highlighted with the construction of a 500-foot long hoagie. A hoagie day will probably be in the future for the Florida stores as well, Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce said.

For the uninitiated, a hoagie also is called a submarine sandwich, hero, poor boy and grinder, depending on what part of the country you are from.

“People are passionate about Wawa,” Johnson said, and the hoagie is one of the reasons why.

And it goes beyond using fresh ingredients, including bread that is baked on the premises. All sandwiches are made to order and the customer actually does the ordering. A unique touch-screen system allows customers to choose the type of sandwich — hot or cold, and a variety of meats. The touch screen is very specific, not only about the types of meat, but the selections of all the toppings and even an area on the screen to touch if you want a little mayonnaise or a lot, a bit of oil or much more.

Wawa sells 60 million built-to-order hoagies each year.

Customers also order their drinks and side items from the touch screen and once they get their receipts, the wait for the sandwich usually is short (unless it’s real busy).

Wawa has found that being busy is the norm for the new, larger Wawa stores, like the ones being introduced in Florida. Emphasizing more kitchen space, initially, Wawa had only planned on having 20 to 30 employees at each store. But at peak times, Wawa has as many as 25 employees working. Each new Wawa store employees 30 to 60 people, plus four managers.

The busy times should continue during these first few weeks of business for the Kissimmee Wawa stores. Both locations will offer free coffee for five days following the initial opening day and the Shortie Hoagie will be sold for only $1.99. All fountain drinks also are specially priced at 89 cents.

Another Wawa customer favorite is coffee. It serves up 195 million cups of coffee each year. That makes Wawa the No. 7 coffee vendor in the United States, Bruce said.

Wawa stores also have ATM machines without any surcharge.

Wawa claims to be a community-minded company and is involved in many community projects throughout the year, according to company spokesmen.

As part of the grand-opening celebration of the five Central Florida locations, Wawa has partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. A portion all hoagie sales at the five stores (up to $5,000 per store) will go to the food bank.

“It’s been a thrilling three weeks,” said Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s president. “We couldn’t be happier that our unique brand of appetizing convenience has caught on so quickly with our new Central Florida friends and neighbors.

“We’re well on our way to presenting Second Harvest Food Bank with a check for $25,000 at the end of our five-week launch, and we feel passionate about doing our part to help fight hunger in Central Florida.”

Wawa will be opening stores in Tampa in 2013. Throughout the Orlando/Tampa markets, Wawa plans to open 20 stores in 2013, 25 stores in 2015 and it projects more than 100 stores in the Orlando/Tampa market within the next five years.

If you missed the opening of the U.S. Highway 192 store, you have another chance to attend at the grand opening of the Orange Blossom Trail Wawa next Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Another hoagie building competition between law enforcement and the fire department is scheduled.

Each team will be challenged to see who can build the most hoagies in three minutes in the traditional Wawa way. Wawa will make a donation to the charities of the winning team.

For more information about Wawa, go to Wawa.com.

(Editor’s note: Look for more information about the dining choices at Wawa in the dining column in Saturday’s Osceola News-Gazette).