Monday, December 17, 2018

"Wawa Effect" felt by Swiss Farms. Closes Rose Tree Location after 50 years.



The new Super Wawa opened in Media last year was definitely a challenge for the Swiss Farms in Rose Tree, but by being flanked by a second Wawa that opened in Upper Providence appears to have been too much.

After 50 years, the Swiss Farms in Rose Tree is officially closing down as shown by their signage out front.  Sadly, this was a great asset to the Media area and one that will be surely missed.

13 comments:

  1. Sorry nothing beats drive thru milk and eggs!!!!

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    1. I would submit that Drone delivery of milk and eggs will beat that!

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  2. WAWA has been around forever. No way was this a WAWA Effect. Loved this store but they have really changed (not for the better) over the past couple of years. This stinks.

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  3. I agree - drive through milk and eggs are essential with small kids. Swiss Farms will be missed.

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  4. Our esteemed media politicians still haven't
    Fixes the road / turning lane(s) at the new media wawa and have claimed to file a complaint in the courts to remedy the situation how about not letting the store open until all 33 conditions were met by wawa why are media taxpayers now funding the legal fees ? Media borough needs to handle these projects much better from start to finish the familiarity of the media borough staff and the planners don't make for a good outcome

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  5. Tedman,
    there is no WAWA effect as both chains market to different consumers. This location of swiss farms was poorly located, and was suffering from a declining base which caused it to have poor performance.

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    1. I disagree. With an overlap of about 85% of the same products, including coffee, a strong argument can be made that they directly compete in the same "Convenience Store" category. Shortly after the new Super Wawa in Media opened, Swiss Farms cut back their hours. https://allthingsmediapa.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-wawa-effect-may-be-having-effect-in.html

      Poor location? It was successful for 50 years! What changed in the last 18 months? Lukoil and Starbucks both made adjustments as well.

      I like both Wawa and Swiss Farms, but you can't overlook the changing business dynamics happening in the area. Thankfully, I no longer have to deal with it any longer.

      Merry Christmas

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  6. When it was a place where most people would just grab milk/bread/eggs it was great. Now, any time I would go through, it seems as though people are doing their grocery shopping there or getting some type of meal. The time savings over just popping into Wawa has disappeared.

    Wonder what happens with the property, it's very weirdly shaped.

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  7. A wise man once said...The free market is a jungle, it’s beautiful and brutal and should be left alone. When a business fails it dies and a new better business takes its place.

    Nostalgia (?) was not enough to save this failing business model. Companies that react to consumer trends and an ever-evolving environment succeed, not the other way around. As stated earlier, Starbucks made an adjustment to survive - maybe Swiss Farms needed to rethink their strategy? Its egregious and frankly moronic that people are getting angry at a business for expanding and boosting revenues due to the simple fact that they know and give the consumer what they want.

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  8. Is there official communication from Swiss Farm as to why they closed the Rose Tree location?

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