Royal Farms seeks to expand on Wawa's turf

Royal Farms, a convenience store that hails from Baltimore, is looking to expand in the Delaware Valley.

The company is entering an area in which Wawa has long dominated and others, including Sheetz and On The Run, have tried to nibble out some market share. Royal Farms has 160 stores in Maryland, Delaware and eight in Pennsylvania, though mostly in the central part of the state.

The company chooses to expand into markets where it currently does not have a presence, said Ed Stronski, a spokesman at Royal Farms.

The company said it doesn't have a specific number of stores planned for the Philadelphia area.

"That will depend on opportunities that present themselves during our market research," Stronski said.

It does have a few stores already in the works, said Ryan McMahon, president of Zommick McMahon Commercial Real Estate, who represents Royal Farms in its search for sites.

• A parcel on Stewart Avenue just off the Ridley exit of I-95 across from the Boeing facility. A store is under construction and scheduled to open by year end.
• A site at Route 452 and Meetinghouse Road in Upper Chichester, Pa., which is under contract and going through the approval process.
• At Route 202 and Smithbridge Road in Concord, Pa.
• A site on McDade Boulevard in Glenolden, Pa., which is going through the approvals process.

Royal Farms seeks out similar types of sites that Wawa would find attractive, said McMahon, who scouted out sites for the convenience store. Corner parcels that are between 1.5 and 2.5 acres that are heavily traveled are ideal. A typical store is 5,000 square feet and has gas pumps. There is also indoor and outdoor seating areas.

When it comes to differentiating Royal Farms from Wawa, which is well known for its coffee and hoagies, the company is quick to point to its "world-famous fresh, never frozen Royal Farms chicken," Stronski said. "We hand-bread our chicken right in our stores using our unique blend of spices."

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal