Franklin woos Wawa

FRANKLIN – Wawa may make its Sussex County debut with a new location in Franklin, Mayor Nicholas Giordano said Tuesday.
According to Giordano, Wawa is currently considering the borough to be one of three new sites in Sussex County. Borough officials met with representatives of the convenience store chain last week and offered up a list of 10 sites where the store might make its home, he said.
“We're thrilled,” Giordano said. “Hopefully our diligence will pay off where we can get Wawa to come to town. We're trying to position them so that they might be in certain areas where there aren't businesses right now.”
Giordano said the Borough would like to move the project forward as quickly as possible. The goal, he said, is to situate the store on Route 23 South, where there are a number of open commercial sites that would “fit their bill very nicely.”
As Giordano pointed out, the addition would make Franklin the first municipality in Sussex County to host a Wawa. Franklin was similarly the pioneer in bringing Starbucks and Taco Bell to the County. Roy Rogers also recently reestablished its presence in northern New Jersey with a location in the Borough.
But Wawa isn't the only new business looking to make its home in Franklin. Giordano said a new Italian restaurant with a bar will be moving into the old Wok n' Sushi site in the near future.
“Business is starting to come back to our town,” Giordano said. “We're starting to see a resurgence in interest in our town that other towns around don't have.”