Signs It's Spring in Philly: Butter Krak

Possibly, no, definitely the world's worst-named candy, Zitner's Butter Krak, is being showcased with prominent cash register area placement at neighborhood Wawas in an apparent Philadelphia homage to trashy Easter traditions. WTF? Since when is Philly's 'krak problem' something to make light (fluffy candy) of? Let alone use as a device for marketing Easter candy to children?

Orbit Gum Flavor Explosion

That's Orbit's new 'Pina Colada' (l) and Citrus Mint (r), discovered at Wawa this weekend while driving from Philadelphia to Sag Harbor. Since then I've bought more packs of gum this week than the average for the upper quintile of teenage girl gum-chewers. (A shot from the hip, that, and not true statistical fact. But it sounds true. Seems that teenage girls always had gum on them. Not that that prevented them from splitting pieces to share. Too bad you can't do the same with smokes.)

Thanks to Wawa's ever-prescient placement above the coffee condiment bar (where you start thinking about two things: 1. the pending enjoyment of your hazelnut cream-laced Brazilian world brew; and 2.the consequences of such caffeinated indiscretion - bad breath.) I've been a fan of Orbit for a while now, judging it to be the longest-lasting and of the juiciest taste across the familiar line of evocative mint varieties (pepper, spear, winter...). 

This isn't meant to be a critique of the work week I had in front of me, but I was more excited than I should have been to see the new line of Orbit flavors augmenting the staid old mint and cinnamon parade common to sugarless gum. The variety and boldness borders on the ridiculous from the above, Pina Colada, to Maui Melon and some energizing blends involving acai, pomegranate. More on the naughty side, there's Sangria and something flirtatious called 'Fruitini.' Now that we've breached the barrier of alcohol flavored gums, I'm anticipating upper and hallucinogen line-extensions next quarter. 

The Irresistible Wawa Cross-Sell

If it's not already obvious, I'm developing something of a Wawa Obsession. From their amazing convenience store coffee bar, 'Coffetopia,' to the fee-free PNC Bank co-branded ATMs, and now my quickening addiction to their breakfast sandwiches, I'm fully in the gravitational pull of the Wawa Blackhole.

Strangely, I can't tell if its due to the quality of the products, the service, the convenience, the whole Wawa experience, in short, or my corporate jealousy as a marketer of what seems to be an enviably customer-centric and well run company pulling the strings behind this amazing retail experience. In the wildest skews of my self-image, I'd never foreseen myself gushing over a convenience store.

As an example of this crush-worthy ingenuity, I'd like to highlight the custom, electronic sandwich-ordering process pictured above, which removes the element of dual-operator error acute to traditional human-to-human sandwich ordering by giving the user no less than 3 chances to include bacon.

As an up-selling system, this is absolutely brilliant, at one stroke delivering mass-customization, ensuring order accuracy, and possibly doubling or tripling Wawa's peripheral bacon sales.

Would I like bacon? Of course I would.

Bacon is but one of dozens of up-sell possibilities baked into this interface from cheese to bread to veggies. In navigating this digital labyrinth of temptation, my accomplice Ben has already been tricked twice this week into upsizing from the 4" Breakfast Ciabatta to the 10" Breakfast Hoagie. But the great thing is both Wawa and Ben came out feeling like winners.

Wawa Coffee

Slate recently did an unscientific review of the mass-market cups of coffee and missed the mark by crowning Dunkin' Donuts their champion. I realize they were going for a broad, nationally appealing contest, but Dunkin's kind of a regional player compared to McDonalds and Starbucks, so why not consider Wawa too? They're not so small-time, selling 195 million cups of coffee each year. Perhaps Slate is too highbrow for gas station coffee?

Which is sad, because Wawa is doing something so right with gas station coffe at the in-store coffee hot-pot kiosk they refer to as Coffeetopia. Coming from the West Coast I had little previous experience with Wawa, but was first drawn in by the no-fee ATMs they sport, which are also really awesome considering my bank's ATMs don't line the freeways of the Mid-Atlantic region.

Like any naive, recent arrival on the East Coast, I was on a dangerous Dunkin' Donuts bender which bore the mark of nacent, longterm addiction as the daily injection of blistering-hot, coffee-scented syrup yielded quickly diminishing returns. A little used to do it, as they say, plus there was the growing donut side-effect. I needed an intervention of variety without the expense of Starbucks.

So I gave Wawa a shot and have been pleased by this discovery of the true nexus of cost, quality and variety in coffee. Just this morning, I enjoyed a cup of 100% Colombian Supremo with a splash of Irish Cream non-dairy creamer and was instantly transported to misty, old Dublin. Who knows where this adventure will lead next?