[March 05, 2006]

Convenience culture: A lot more than gas

(Reading Eagle (PA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 5--Whenever people talk about the success of the fast-rising Wawa chain, now spread across every nook of Berks County, they often talk about the low price of gas and the fresh food, or the ATMs and vast selection of soft drinks.

But there's another force at work as I pass by three of them on my way to work. It starts with signage that is the same color and shape as a sunny side up egg, and ends with a $1.25 cup of coffee I could have easily made at home for 10 cents.

Today's gas stations are basically fastfood restaurants and convenience stores that also happen to sell fuel, a trend over half a century in the making. But the newest hybrids, like Wawa and Sheetz, have injected an atmosphere not unlike that of Barnes & Noble or Pier One. Getting gas is actually pleasant.

Somehow, through a combination of food and atmosphere, Wawa has figured out the ultimate formula to make customers take the extra step and come inside, or better, stop in when they don't even need gas. At any given time of day, there are just as many people getting gas as there are getting something else. Here at the Eagle, I work next to someone who specifically makes a three-mile trek at lunch just to order Wawa's grilled chicken sandwich twice a week.

It's the little things in places like Wawa or Sheetz -- also the color of eggs and bacon -- that keep customers coming back. And if you think those colors are randomly picked, think again. Ever notice how the colors at McDonald's and Burger King are the colors of, well, burgers? Wawa's logo is exceptionally clever because it's the color of bacon and eggs, and also a picture of a sunrise and Canada goose. Nothing says "good morning" better than eggs, the sunrise and waterfowl.

Once you're inside, drawn in by the goose and egg, you're hit with the smell of hazelnut coffee emanating from two dozen coffee pots near the back, in plain sight of everything. There's never a shortage of coffee. Wawa may actually be creating a shortage for the rest of the planet.

Hovering around the coffee bay are the other early risers: the woman in hospital scrubs, the dusty laborer covered in drywall and the young hipster with an iPod. They look tired, but grateful for the coffee that will help lift them from under their cloud. You wonder what it's like to have a morning routine like these people, until you realize you have one yourself.

Nothing links Wawa to the likes of Barnes & Noble and Starbucks more than their coffee lids, which come in two styles: the standard flat white lid you need to tear open, or the more modern black dome lid with the little slit. While the white one will probably only take 10 million years to decay, I prefer the heartier black one, figuring most of my money is going toward the cup, lid and cardboard holder anyway. Might as well go the extra mile and maximize the ecological damage. I actually get a little annoyed with people who take the white lid and no holder. This isn't Chevron, people.

Then there's food. There was a time when the thought of integrating food with gas stations would turn your stomach. At best, you'd find a few packs of gum and cigarettes behind the counter, rung up by a mechanic who had just finished installing brake pads. Imagine those hands today, assembling a buffalo chicken sandwich.

Ads for Sheetz's food occupy countless billboards across the county, announcing a new food that either starts with an "Sh" (Shmuffin) or ends with a "z" (Pretzel Meltz). Wawa is famous for their wraps, which come in seemingly 30 varieties of the "Southwestern" persuasion.

Then there's gas, which is an afterthought anymore. There are differences in pumping experiences depending where you go. The general rule -- just like ATMs -- is that no two pumps are alike. Wawa's pumps are pretty standard, and they play pretty good music. Lots of Motown.

The coolest gas pumps on the planet are at Sunoco, located at 17th Street and Perkiomen Avenue. If you get a chance, take a sack lunch and make a day trip of it. Bring the children.

The strangest pumps are located outside our area at an Exxon just north of Allentown on Route 309. They have little televisions inside. The problem is, by the time you get over the initial astonishment of television sets inside gas pumps, it's too late to enjoy what's on. Half of them no longer work anyway, no doubt broken by confused teens.

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