Blue Ash got its first Wawa on Thursday, Aug. 13, when the convenience store and fuel chain opened at 5900 Pfeiffer Road with a ribbon-cutting, a sandwich-building showdown and $2,000 in charitable donations.

Mayor Jill Cole spoke at the ceremony, joining several city leaders who helped cut the ribbon, according to the Blue Ash Advance Economic Development Newsroom. The first 100 customers received free T-shirts, and free coffee was available to all.

The highlight was Wawa's signature "Hoagies for Heroes" competition, which pitted the Blue Ash Police Department against the Blue Ash Fire Department in a three-minute hoagie-building sprint.

The police team won by a single sandwich.

Both departments walked away with $1,000 donations from Wawa regardless of the outcome. The police team's share went to the Blue Ash Police Association, while the fire department directed its $1,000 to Operation Giveback, a Blue Ash-based nonprofit that provides donations to more than 1,000 children and families in the area.

The Pfeiffer Road location marks Wawa's continued push into Greater Cincinnati. The Pennsylvania-based chain opened its first Ohio store in Liberty Township in April 2025 and had reached 12 stores statewide by March 2026. Joe Collins, Wawa's director of store operations, said in March, as the chain reached that 12-store milestone, that the company was "thrilled to continue to grow in Ohio."

Wawa has said it plans to open five to eight stores per year in Ohio over the next five to eight years, with a long-term target of up to 60 locations statewide. Each new store represents more than a $7.5 million investment and employs an average of 35 people once open, according to the company.

The store at 5900 Pfeiffer Road is open now, offering Wawa's made-to-order hoagies, breakfast sandwiches, specialty beverages, coffee and fuel. The company has not announced its next Greater Cincinnati location, but its Ohio expansion pace suggests more stores are on the way.