The Wawa convenience store business is considering abandoning plans to expand in Philadelphia due to an ongoing crime epidemic, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Democratic City Council member Mike Driscoll alleged during a Tuesday town hall-style discussion that he met with Wawa officials on September 25, the day after roughly 100 young people trashed a Philadelphia Wawa shop in the city’s Mayfair district. Driscoll quoted a corporate executive as stating “We’re seriously considering moving out of the city of Philadelphia in our strategic planning, at least not to expand.”
So a group of people just randomly decided to ransack a Wawa in Northeast Philly tonight.
pic.twitter.com/gspWgzGS42— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 25, 2022
“They’ve had to invest in security, and those of you that have these office buildings [know that] security doesn’t add anything to your bottom line, it takes away from your bottom line,” the forum was told.
The store was devastated as a result of the chaos, with stacks of broken goods in aisles and shattered merchandise spread over the floor.
Here’s the aftermath of a group of clear white supremacists ransacking the Wawa on Roosevelt Blvd at Tyson Ave in Philly. pic.twitter.com/D9jyCxLWcK
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 25, 2022
Philadelphia saw a roughly 39.5% increase in reported robberies in the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2021, according to Philadelphia Police statistics.
Murders in the in city have also increased consistently over the past 8 years according to data compiled by the Philadelphia Police Department.
Wawa closed two Philadelphia locations in 2021 after having chosen in August to close a different one that was the site of a 2018 stabbing.
As if to underline the announcement that WaWa will be reconsidering their plans in the city, news broke that two of its employees were pepper sprayed by an unknown assailant on Thursday morning.
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