Walnut Street WaWa to close up shop

Shopping will no longer be so convenient. The WaWa Food Market on Walnut Street, between 39th and 40th streets, will close permanently next Monday, Feb. 28. Until then, the store will close at midnight every night and reopen at 6:15 a.m. The store, which has been in its present location since 1975, is "getting old," said Customer Service Assistant and Manager-On-Duty Tony Ward last night. Ward added that WaWa workers have been instructed not to talk to the press about the closing. "A number of things" were considered before closing the store, and safety was among them, Ward said. The store has been robbed several times at gunpoint in the past year, most recently at the beginning of this semester. Ward said the newly remodeled WaWa at 38th and Spruce streets is not a factor in the Walnut Street store's closing. But all employees currently working at the Walnut Street store will be transferred to that location. "It's good there's another store in the area," Ward said. "That store is going to be real busy." The 38th Street WaWa recently added a Pizza Hut Express and an espresso bar to its existing grocery and Taco Bell options. The additions will mean new training for the Walnut Street employees, Ward said. Ward said he is "not too happy" that the store is closing, in part because "a lot of people in the area will be inconvenienced." Many High Rise residents will be among those who will have to go out of their way due to the closing. Nursing sophomore Jean Evans said last night she will have to shop at the 38th Street WaWa from now on. "This one's closer so it's more convenient," she said. "And it's cleaner than the other one -- if it can be called clean." College sophomore Allison Gordon said she will accept the inconvenience if it means added safety. "If they closed it for safety, I'd rather have them close than have it be a safety hazard," she said. Ward said starting today, everything in the Walnut Street store will be marked down, "just to get it out of the store." Walnut Street Store Manager Kenneth Dobbins could not be reached for comment and the 38th Street manager refused to discuss the closing.