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  • What to watch Saturday at the Olympics: A Delco native goes for a medal

    What to watch Saturday at the Olympics: A Delco native goes for a medal

    There haven’t been any giant “DELCO” flags in the stands at the Olympics, at least as far as we’ve been able to tell from home. But there is a Broomall native, Taylor Anderson-Heide, going for a bronze medal in women’s curling for the United States on Saturday.

    The U.S. lost to Switzerland in the semifinals on Friday, in a match that was tightly contested throughout. You have to tip your broom to the outstanding shot by Swiss veteran Alina Pätz, a six-time world champion, that clinched the win.

    So the Americans are playing Canada for bronze, adding another chapter to their long rivalry. Unfortunately, most of it is live just on Peacock, but USA Network will pick up coverage at 9:30 a.m.

    Saturday is the last full day of Olympics action, but some other major Americans will be going for gold. We start in women’s bobsled, where the two-woman event has its last two runs.

    Everyone loves Olympic curling — and some people even think it looks easy. Our reporter learned how hard it really is.

    Americans Kaillie Humphries and Jasmine Jones were in third after Friday’s first two runs. Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill were in fifth, while monobob champion Elana Meyers Taylor and Jadin O’Brien were in 12th.

    NBC has the first run live at 1 p.m. and the second run live at 3:05 p.m.

    Kaillie Humphries and Jasmine Jones starting one of their bobsled runs in the first rounds on Friday.

    Then there’s speedskating’s mass start, with Jordan Stolz in the men’s event going for his fourth medal in Milan. It’s an unusual 6,400-meter distance, 16 laps of the oval, and Stolz has admitted it’s “more like a bonus” for him. But it’s certainly a show, because as the name implies, it gets very crowded.

    Instead of the usual two skaters on the track, the mass start has a lot of them all at once. The top eight finishers in each semifinal advance to the final. Coverage of the finals starts at 9 a.m. on USA Network, then moves to NBC at 10 a.m. when the network comes on air for the day.

    The Flyers’ Travis Sanheim learned hard work growing up on a grain farm in small-town Canada. It helped make him an Olympian.

    Saturday’s Olympic TV schedule

    As a general rule, our schedules include all live broadcasts on TV, but not tape-delayed broadcasts on cable channels. We’ll let you know what’s on NBC’s broadcasts, whether live or not.

    NBC

    • 10 a.m.: Speedskating — Men’s and women’s mass start finals
    • 11:30 a.m.: Cross-country skiing — Men’s 50km (tape-delayed)
    • 1 p.m.: Bobsled — Two-woman third run
    • 1:30 p.m.: Freestyle skiing — Women’s halfpipe final
    • 2:55 p.m.: Figure skating — Gala
    • 3:15 p.m.: Bobsled — Two-woman final run
    • 3:50 p.m.: Back to the figure skating gala
    • 4:30 p.m.: Freestyle skiing — Mixed team aerials (delayed)
    • 5:15 p.m.: Bobsled — Four-man first and second runs (delayed)
    • 8 p.m.: Prime time highlights including bobsled, freestyle skiing, speed skating, and figure skating
    • 11:30 p.m.: Late night highlights including bobsled, speed skating, and freestyle skiing

    USA Network

    • 4 a.m.: Bobsled — Four-man, first run
    • 4:45 a.m.: Freestyle skiing — Mixed team aerials final
    • 6:10 a.m.: Cross-country skiing — Men’s 50km
    • 7:30 a.m.: Ski mountaineering — Mixed relay final
    • 8:15 a.m.: Biathlon — Women’s 12.5km mass start
    • 9 a.m.: Speedskating — Men’s and women’s mass start finals
    • 9:30 a.m.: Curling — United States vs. Canada women’s bronze medal game (joined in progress)
    • 2:40 p.m.: Ice hockey — Finland vs. Slovakia men’s bronze medal game

    CNBC

    • 1:05 p.m.: Curling — Switzerland vs. Norway bronze medal game

    How to watch the Olympics on TV and stream online

    NBC’s TV coverage will have live events from noon to 5 p.m. Philadelphia time on weekdays and starting in the mornings on the weekends. There’s a six-hour time difference between Italy and here. The traditional prime-time coverage will have highlights of the day and storytelling features.

    As far as the TV channels, the Olympics are airing on NBC, USA, CNBC, and NBCSN. Spanish coverage can be found on Telemundo and Universo.

    NBCSN is carrying the Gold Zone whip-around show that was so popular during the Summer Olympics in 2024, with hosts including Scott Hanson of NFL RedZone. It used to be just on Peacock, NBC’s online streaming service, but now is on TV, too.

    Every event is available to stream live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. You’ll have to log in with your pay-TV provider, whether cable, satellite, or streaming platforms including YouTube TV, FuboTV, and Sling TV.

    On Peacock, the events are on the platform’s premium subscription tier, which starts at $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year.

    Here is the full event schedule for the entire Olympics, and here are live scores and results.

  • ‘Don’t uproot our education,’ Pennypacker fourth graders plead as their school faces closure

    ‘Don’t uproot our education,’ Pennypacker fourth graders plead as their school faces closure

    For nearly a century, the Samuel Pennypacker School has survived — a three-story brick anchor of the West Oak Lane neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia.

    Now it faces the threat of extinction.

    The Philadelphia School District says the school’s building score is “unsatisfactory” and modernizing it would cost more than $30 million. District officials are calling for shuttering Pennypacker following the 2026-27 school year, funneling its students to nearby Franklin S. Edmonds or Anna B. Day schools — part of a citywide proposal to close 20 district schools.

    The recommendation, district officials say, is no reflection of the “incredible teachers, community, [and] students” at Pennypacker. Rather, it is an attempt by the district to optimize resources and equity for students.

    Like many district schools, Pennypacker, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade, is aging and outdated, having opened in 1930. At just over 300 students, it is among the city’s smaller schools — and operating at about 64% of building capacity.

    Yet, it is those same qualities — its size and longevity — that represent some of its greatest strengths, say those in the school community who are not happy about the proposed closure.

    It’s a school, they say, that is more than the sum of its aging parts.

    On the school’s walls are pocks of chipped paint, yes, but also the colorful detritus of a small but vibrant student population: a poster composed of tiny handprints in honor of Black History Month; a “Blizzard of Positivity” — handwritten messages reading “Smile” and “Hugs” and “Help your friends when they fall.”

    It’s where Wonika Archer’s children enrolled soon after the family emigrated from Guyana — the first school they had ever known.

    “A lot of firsts,” Archer said. “Their first friends, their first teachers outside of their parents.”

    It’s where, since 1992, Andreas Roberts’ youth drill team has been allowed to practice. The team, which includes some Pennypacker students, recently participated in its first competition and won first place.

    “Pennypacker has been very, very useful to us,” he said. “We have nowhere else to practice for the kids.”

    Philly parents are worried and shocked over the proposed school closings across the city.

    It’s where Christine Thorne put her kids through school, her son and her daughter, and where her grandchildren now go. Around the school, they call her “Grandmama.”

    “I feel as if my household is being destroyed,” she said recently.

    For students, news of the imminent closure has been no less jarring.

    When Janelle Pearson’s fourth-grade students learned recently that their school was poised to be shuttered under the district’s plan, they took it as a grim reflection on themselves.

    “It makes them feel like, ‘What did we do wrong that they want to close our school?’” said Pearson, who has taught at Pennypacker for about a decade. “That’s the part that tugs at your heart.”

    Unwilling to go down without a fight, the fourth graders resolved to do what they could. Soon, a poster took shape, in marker and crayon, a series of pleas addressed to Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.

    “Pennypacker is our home.”

    “Don’t uproot our education.”

    “Our neighborhood depends on this school!”

    The poster was presented to district officials earlier this month at a community meeting held in the school’s wood-seated auditorium.

    At that meeting, representatives from the district did their best to explain the reasoning for the proposed closures. They presented a tidy PowerPoint and talked of student retention and program alignment, of building capacity and neighborhood vulnerability scores.

    It stood in stark contrast to the parents and teachers and staffers who, one by one, held a microphone and spoke of love and family and community, of teachers and staffers who routinely went above and beyond to make their children feel safe. To make them feel special.

    “It’s not just about a building,” said Richard Levy, a onetime Pennypacker teacher who now works at St. Joseph’s University. “The challenges here aren’t reasons to close the school — they’re reasons to strengthen it.”

    Whether their appeals might affect the district’s decision remains to be seen. Other schools in the district slated for closure have mounted efforts of their own, and, despite a recent grilling by City Council members, it seems all but certain that several schools will ultimately shutter.

    A school board vote on the district’s proposal is expected later this winter.

    Until then, those at Pennypacker are holding tight to the possibility of an eleventh-hour reprieve for the longtime neighborhood institution.

    “I’m hoping there’s a chance,” Archer said. “I’m so hopeful.”

  • Father Judge’s Derrick Morton-Rivera is chasing his dream just like his mother

    Father Judge’s Derrick Morton-Rivera is chasing his dream just like his mother

    Ashley Morton stopped posting the hours on the door of her Mayfair boutique. There’s no point, she said. It’s impossible for the business owner to hold consistent opening times when her son is one of Philadelphia’s best high school basketball players. There always seems to be a game or tournament for the mom to attend.

    “My customers say, ‘Is the store going to be open?’ I say, ‘Sorry, we got a game’,” Morton said. “So we just do pickups now. People can order online and schedule a pickup. It just became too much.”

    That’s the price you pay when your son — Father Judge’s Derrick Morton-Rivera — is a win away from a second straight Catholic League boys’ basketball title.

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    “I’m just going to wait until everything is completely finished,” Morton said. “Then we’ll open back up.”

    The mom opened Ashley’s Kloset 12 years ago after a dress she made with a Wal-Mart sewing machine and a $2 piece of fabric from Jo-Mar received attention on social media. Morton was self taught — “I went on a wing and a prayer,” she said — and figured it out. She had enough of her job at a men’s suit store and decided to do her own thing. So her mom helped her launch the business in Olney before it moved to Mayfair.

    “My mom said, ‘We’re going to get you a store,’” Morton said. “Mind you, I don’t have any money. My mom doesn’t have any money. I’m like, ‘How are we going to get a store?’ Don’t you know she came up with that money and found me a store.”

    She put a basketball net in the back of her store for her son, who seemed destined to be a hooper ever since he dribbled a ball when he was just 10 months old.

    Derrick Morton-Rivera and his mother, Ashley, after his first ever basketball game.

    “My mom dropped the spaghetti,” Morton said. “She was cooking ground beef and she was like, ‘Oh my god.’ He was bouncing the ball before he could even walk. You know how they have that little wobble? The ball was bouncing while he was off and then once it stopped bouncing, he fell.”

    The son is signed to play at Temple and showed why on Wednesday night when he willed Judge back from an early 16-point deficit against Archbishop Wood in the semifinals. He scored 27 points and had the 9,000 fans at the Palestra in the palm of his hand.

    Morton was not trying to shape a basketball player when she opened her store. But she did show her son everyday the hard work that comes with chasing a dream. Perhaps that prepared him to chase his own.

    “My mom is always working,” said Morton-Rivera. “The only time she really takes off is to see me play. Knowing how hard she works, makes me work even harder.”

    Derrick Morton-Rivera, who will try Sunday to win a second straight Catholic League title, is signed to play at Temple.

    The Potato State

    Customers asked Morton about her shop’s hours in the summer and she said she had to first check the AAU schedule.

    “I don’t have a schedule,” she said. “I just have his. This is going to be the first summer without it. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.”

    She traveled with her son to basketball tournaments throughout the country, crossing off states she never dreamed of visiting.

    “What’s the Potato State? Idaho,” she said. “It was the most boring place ever. Even their downtown was a ghost town. But we can say we’ve been to Idaho, you know what I mean?”

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    Morton poured everything into her son, even the hours of her own shop. She had help, too. If Morton works late, her mother stops by to cook dinner and do the laundry.

    “She even washes my clothes,” Morton said as it took a village to raise a basketball star.

    Morton designs and sews all of her own women’s clothing in the ALM Collection, specializing in plus sizes and fashion for taller women. She does enough online orders — the shop ships around the world, she said — that she can close the doors to watch basketball.

    Something that started on a whim has grown into a full-time operation. The mom willed her dream into existence.

    “I remember one time he was like, ‘Mom, all you do is work.’ And I started crying,” Morton said. “Because he doesn’t know what I’m working for. Every time he turned the light on, the light came on. Anything he asked for, I was able to provide. He’s like, ‘Alls I see is the back of your head because you’re just sewing all the time.’ I said, ‘Mir, you have to understand.’ Now, I think he gets it.”

    Derrick Morton-Rivera’s mom owns a boutique in Mayfair, Ashley’s Kloset.

    ‘Mom, just calm down’

    The crowd at the Palestra roared as Judge mounted its comeback on Wednesday. And the fans will be even louder on Sunday when Judge plays Neumann Goretti. But Morton-Rivera, whose father, D.J. Rivera, won a Catholic League title at Neumann Goretti, plays like he can’t hear anything. He handles the frenzy of a sold-out arena the same way he does when Chick-fil-A forgets his sauce.

    “I’m like, ‘They forgot the sauce,’” Morton said. “And he’s like, ‘Mom, just calm down. Relax. Ask her for it.’ He calms me down. He inspires me to have patience, be humble, and just breathe.”

    The kid who watched his mom spend hours behind the sewing machine seems just as fixated on the basketball court. He followed his dad to gyms as a kid and always found time to work on his shot.

    Judge’s coaches organized a practice Friday afternoon but that wasn’t enough for Morton-Rivera, who stayed in the gym with a few teammates for another 90 minutes. Like mom, he’s always working.

    “It’s just about ‘How bad do you want it?,’” he said. “We have a lot of guys on our team who want it. Even if they’re tired, they’ll stay after practice to get their shots up. Those are the little things that show when the game starts.”

    His mom signed him up to play when he was 3 years old as he was tall enough to play with the 6-year-old kids at the Lawncrest Rec Center. They told the parents to make sure their kids came with a drink. So Morton sent her son with a Capri Sun pouch.

    “We didn’t know,” she said.

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    The mom figured it out. It was the start of her son’s basketball journey, one that felt so rapid as he started to dunk as a teenager and played in the Potato State. And now he has a residency at The Palestra with a college scholarship secured.

    “My sister was like, ‘Ash, that’s really your son,’” Morton said. “And I say, ‘Yes, it is.’ It’s just been so amazing. I’m so proud of him.”

    Judge’s basketball season could extend another month if it marches deep into the state playoffs. Until it’s finished, Morton’s business will be online only.

    “I’m getting my inventory ready to be fully stocked,” Morton said.

  • Reflecting on the top 10 moments of Julius Erving’s career as he reaches 76 years old

    Reflecting on the top 10 moments of Julius Erving’s career as he reaches 76 years old

    Julius Erving, an all-time 76ers great whose No. 6 is retired by the franchise, will celebrate his 76th birthday on Sunday.

    As the basketball legend marks a milestone, here’s a look back at the 10 best moments of Erving’s career with the Sixers:

    The Doctor is in

    The Sixers acquired Erving from the New York Nets at the start of the 1976-77 NBA season, the first season after the league’s merger with the American Basketball Association was completed. The ABA’s Nets, one of four teams incorporated into the league, were forced to move on from Erving in order to pay the fees associated with entering the NBA.

    The Sixers paid the Nets $3 million to acquire Erving, who was already a three-time ABA MVP by the time he joined the Sixers. The forward was also a season removed from winning the 1976 ABA dunk contest with a legendary leap from the free throw line.

    All-Star MVP

    Erving got off to a good start in his first NBA season with the Sixers, averaging 19.9 points before the All-Star break in 1976-77. But that season’s All-Star Game in Milwaukee was a point of arrival for the former face of the ABA.

    Erving scored 30 points and nabbed 12 rebounds in 30 minutes, earning the game’s Most Valuable Player trophy despite the East losing to the West, 125-124. Erving, who was named an All-Star in each of his 18 ABA and NBA seasons, won the NBA’s All-Star MVP again in 1983.

    Finals slam

    Erving led the Sixers to the NBA Finals in his first season with the team, averaging 21.6 points and 8.5 rebounds in 1976-77. One of the high-flyer’s most memorable dunks came in Game 6 of the Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. In the second quarter, Erving dribbled through three Trail Blazer defenders, leapt toward the rim and threw down a right-handed jam over the outstretched arms of Bill Walton.

    Despite an NBA playoff career-high 40-point outing from Erving, Walton’s Blazers won Game 6, 109-107, to claim the 1977 NBA championship.

    Baseline scoop

    Walton wasn’t the only Hall of Fame center Erving antagonized in the NBA Finals. His iconic “baseline scoop” move against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980 Finals was a crafty way of getting around the shot-blocking ability of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    In the fourth quarter of Game 4, Erving drove to the right side of the basket, leapt while underneath the backboard and tossed an underhanded shot that hit the left side of the backboard and rolled in.

    “I didn’t realize how long I had been in the air, but I knew I didn’t have any legs left and I didn’t have any hang time left, so I fell on the floor,” Erving said to ESPN in 2019. “Just another move.”

    The scoop was two Erving’s 23 points scored in Game 4, helping the Sixers to a 105-102 victory that evened the series at two games apiece. The Lakers won the series, 4-2.

    Most Valuable Doctor

    Erving won his lone NBA MVP award in the 1980-81 season. At the time, Erving was the second Sixer to win the league’s top individual honor alongside Wilt Chamberlain.

    Erving finished top-five in MVP voting five times as a Sixer, but the three-time ABA MVP only won the award once after the merger. Erving averaged 24.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists in the 1980-81 season. He led the Sixers to a 62-20 regular season record, tied for the NBA’s best with the Celtics. The Sixers lost the 1981 Eastern Conference finals to Boston, which would go on to win the title that season.

    Rock the baby

    Another iconic Erving dunk, the “rock the baby” slam, came against the Lakers at the Spectrum in January 1983. Erving picked up a loose ball along the sideline just past center court, drove toward the rim and cradled the ball with his right hand before bringing it up to the rim for a dunk over Michael Cooper.

    “I wanted this dunk to live on forever and to prove that people could fly,” Erving said to Sports Illustrated in 2023 on the slam’s 40th anniversary.

    The Sixers held on for a two point win in overtime against the Lakers in what turned out to be a preview of the 1983 Finals.

    Four, five, four

    Moses Malone was the Sixer that predicted a full sweep of the 1983 Playoffs — “four, four, four” — after the team earned the top seed with a 65-17 regular season record, but Erving helped his center’s postseason prediction (almost) come true as the Sixers marched to the third championship in franchise history.

    Erving and the Sixers were 12-1 in the playoffs, including a sweep of the defending champion Lakers in the 1983 Finals. The Sixers’ only loss was to the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals. Erving averaged 18.4 points in the Sixers’ 13 playoff games, including a 21-point, six-assist performance to complete a sweep of the Lakers in Game 4.

    At the time, the Sixers were the only team to complete a postseason with one loss. The 2001 Lakers and 2017 Warriors are the only teams since to take only one loss in the postseason.

    Downing Dallas

    Erving sank two game-winning shots at the horn during the final stretch of the 1985-86 regular season, which was his penultimate NBA season. The first shot came in Dallas on Feb. 28, 1986.

    With two seconds remaining in a tie game, Erving inbounded the ball from the sideline to Maurice Cheeks. Cheeks passed it back to Erving, who launched a heave from beyond half court. The shot went in, and the Sixers won, 123-120.

    Beating Boston

    Erving’s next game winner came a little more than a month after his heroics in Dallas. Erving’s Sixers were down two to Larry Bird’s Celtics at the Spectrum on April 6, 1986.

    The Sixers fouled Bird with seven seconds remaining, sending the league’s best free throw shooter to the line with a chance to make Boston’s lead four. Bird missed both, leaving the door open for the Sixers to win the game, 95-94, on an Erving three-pointer as time expired.

    Jersey retirement

    After the Sixers’ opening game of the 1986-87 season, Erving announced he would retire at the end of the season. In total, Erving played 11 seasons for the Sixers and averaged 22 points over 836 games with the team.

    At the time of his retirement, Erving was the third-leading scorer in Sixers history, though he has since been passed by Allen Iverson. Erving is still the franchise’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 1,293 rejections in a Sixers uniform. The franchise retired his No. 6 jersey on April 18, 1988, in a ceremony at the Spectrum.

    Erving also had his No. 32 retired by the Nets in honor of his ABA career, making him one of 16 players in NBA history to have their jersey retired by multiple franchises. Erving was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

  • Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    When they eventually install microcameras into the corneas of our eyes, we’ll still be watching this hockey highlight.

    This was Kerri Strug vaulting on one leg in 1996. Bob Beamon shattering the long jump in Mexico City in 1968. Sid the Kid in 2010, only much, much cooler.

    It was more than historic. It was iconic.

    In overtime of the gold-medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team USA defenseman Megan Keller deked Canadian defender Claire Thompson and left her in the dust, flailing with her stick.

    Keller then beat goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens with a backhand to the short side.

    It was a golden goal worthy of the name.

    It should live as one of the great Olympic moments of all time. It should live as one of the great sporting moments of all time.

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    It’s hard to compare this Olympic moment with Romania’s Nadia Comăneci, who scored gymnastics’ first perfect 10 in 1976 at the age of 14. It’s not really the same as Usain “Lightning” Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who broke Michael Johnson’s world record in the 200 meters in 2008 or Michael Phelps, who, at those same Beijing Games, swam his way to eight golds; their moments were parts of aggregations. And it certainly lacks the social significance of Black sprinter Jesse Owens, who won a then-record four golds in 1936 in front of host Adolf Hitler.

    Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates as he wins the men’s 200-meter final with a world record during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    I was there for Bolt and Phelps. All of those moments took your breath away the way only great moments in sport leave you breathless.

    None was quite as magical as Keller’s golden goal.

    Sidney Crosby did something similar for Canada in 2010, and he did it against Team USA, and I was there for that, too. But Crosby’s goal was simpler: He carried the puck in, had a weak shot deflected away, got it back, went to the boards, passed to teammate Jarome Iginla, skated away from suddenly inattentive defenseman Brian Rafalski, got the pass back from Iginla, and snapped a shot past goaltender Ryan Miller.

    Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and film legend Donald Sutherland, both great Canadians, were sitting right behind me. They’d probably disagree with my assertion here.

    Sid’s was a great play.

    Keller’s was better.

    Keller’s goal isn’t quite the same event as Team USA’s upset of the Soviets in 1980. That was a true underdog story, mostly U.S. college kids playing an elite set of professionals who’d won the last four golds. It might be the biggest upset in sports history — but it wasn’t an overtime game, or even a gold-medal game, and there was no defining, game-ending moment like Keller’s.

    Pity poor Thompson, but not too much. She’d been a hero in China with 11 assists and two goals, an Olympic record for defensemen, when the Canadians won the gold in 2022.

    There are plenty of caveats surrounding what should be the play of the year. None of them of Keller’s making.

    Megan Keller celebrates after scoring one of the best golden goals you will ever see in hockey.

    Crosby scored his goal in a four-on-four setting, but overtime rules were changed ahead of the 2022 Olympics to make it three-on-three.

    The teams in 2010 were more evenly matched, while the U.S. team in Milan, Italy, was heavily favored, having outscored opponents, 31-1, in a 6-0 run that included a 5-0 win over Canada in the preliminary round. However, Canada’s strategy and execution Thursday had the reigning champs holding onto a 1-0 lead before American captain Hilary Knight tied the game with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in regulation.

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    Finally, no teams besides Canada (five) and the U.S. (three) have won a gold medal, and they have met in the gold-medal game seven of the eight times it has been played. To date, it is not a sport in which the field offers the titans much resistance.

    This should not diminish the moment. Keller and her teammates can only beat opponents they meet.

    This golden goal is one of the best plays you will ever see.

    In fact, as a spontaneous athletic maneuver of incomparable audacity and breathtaking skill, seizing the biggest moment in a player’s life, I struggle to find its equal.

  • A tale of two festivals: Philly Bierfest wants NYC-rooted Philly Beer Fest to stop confusing customers

    A tale of two festivals: Philly Bierfest wants NYC-rooted Philly Beer Fest to stop confusing customers

    A battle of the beer festivals is brewing in Philadelphia, and it’s set to come to a head next weekend, when Philly Bierfest and Philly Beer Fest — two completely unrelated beer festivals with names that are homophones — take place on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 28.

    This isn’t a coincidence, according to some members of Pennsylvania’s beer scene who claim the New York City-based organizers of the two-year-old Philly Beer Fest are deliberately trying to capitalize on the good name of Bierfest, a long-standing event with deep local roots.

    “It’s a very pointed move,” said Meredith Megan Rebar, the founder of Home Brewed Events, which plans major food and drink festivals in the Philly region. “They’re just doing this intentionally to mess with the event that’s been around longer.”

    The 2024 Philly Bierfest, held at the German Society of Pennsylvania at 611 Spring Garden St. The event spans two buildings and includes a food hall, beer classes, and burlesque performances, among other things.

    Philly Bierfest was created in 2013 by Northern Liberties-based nonprofit the German Society of Pennsylvania and Marnie Old, a local wine author and longtime freelance columnist for The Inquirer. It began as a way to honor the state’s rich tradition of brewing German-style beers, such as pilsners, kölsches, and lagers. With a deep bench of Pennsylvania- and Germany-based brewers — there are 45 pouring at this year’s event — the festival sells out each year, and was named one of the best beer festivals in the U.S. by USA Today in 2023. The event’s proceeds have gone to the Philly Roller Derby and Brewers of PA since its inception.

    Philly Beer Fest, on the other hand, is hosted by by Craft Hospitality, a national events company headquartered in New York City that organizes beverage festivals across the U.S., including the Philadelphia Zoo’s Summer Ale Festival. Craft Hospitality launched Philly Beer Fest at the 23rd Street Armory in 2024. Just over 30 Philadelphia-area beverage makers are featured this year, and proceeds partially benefit the Trauma Survivors Foundation.

    In 2024 and 2025, Craft Hospitality scheduled Beer Fest on the weekends immediately before and after Bierfest, which has been held on the last Saturday of February for 13 years (save for a pandemic-induced disruption).

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    This year’s identical scheduling hasn’t necessarily hurt Bierfest, Old said, noting that tickets sold out this week. But it has caused some headaches. Bierfest’s barbecue vendor accidentally showed up to the wrong venue for a site visit, and Old has spent a great deal of time confirming with vendors that they’re signed up for the right event. In past years, Old has heard from some disappointed Beer Fest attendees who showed up to their event expecting it to be the German-themed Bierfest.

    The nonprofit-run festival tried to get ahead of any confusion this year. Prior to Bierfest selling out, it had a pop-up on its website that read: “Friends don’t let friends get the wrong tickets. Share this link to ensure pals get tickets to the original, authentic Philly Bierfest and not the other similarly named event.”

    Old isn’t sure if the warnings entirely worked.

    “We don’t hear from anyone who got tickets to the wrong festival until after our event,” she said. “I don’t know what their intention is because I’m not on their team, but misleading [the consumer] does seem to be the end effect.”

    Craft Hospitality denies scheduling Beer Fest for Feb. 28 as a way to undercut its preexisting competitor. In a statement, the company attributed the scheduling snafu to the event being held at a National Guard facility, which limits scheduling.

    “Event dates are determined based on venue availability and planning logistics, and are often set by contract approximately 12 months in advance,” the statement read. “Philadelphia has an incredibly active event calendar — this year especially with the World Cup … Overlap between events is not uncommon.”

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    ‘It just feels predatory to me’

    This isn’t the first time Craft Hospitality’s Beer Fest has been accused of riding Bierfest’s coattails.

    After a Craft Hospitality employee emailed Ploughman Cider owner Ben Wenk in Nov. 2023 to gauge interest in vending at the first Philly Beer Fest — then scheduled for Feb. 17, 2024 — Wenk said his cidery would boycott all future Craft Hospitality events over what he felt was the company’s “intentional and malicious” attempt to deceive.

    Scheduling a beer festival with an identical-sounding name just a week before its established competitor, Wenk said, went too far.

    “Our people and our brand won’t be devoting any further resources towards an organization such as yours that is so brazenly and transparently willing to act in such a predatory way towards an established event like Philly Bierfest, who, by our estimation, have done nothing to deserve it,” Wenk emailed the Craft Hospitality employee in February 2024.

    Another Craft Hospitality employee replied to Wenk days later. “No one else has ever mentioned this other beer fest to me personally. Brands have just signed up fairly easily but I do see the conflict you’re pointing out. I will be looking into this,” they wrote.

    Reservation scalpers are headed for Philly. Can restaurants clap back?

    No one followed up with him, Wenk said, and Craft Hospitality didn’t respond to questions about this interaction.

    “Why is this New York events company coming down here to Philadelphia and thinking they can get one over on us?” Wenk said. “It just feels predatory to me.”

    Ploughman Ciders, of Adams County, Pa., is boycotting Philly Beer Fest and all other Craft Hospitality events.

    Bierfest co-creator Old had also directly flagged issues to Sam Gelin, Craft Hospitality’s founder. Shortly after both beer festivals wrapped in 2024, Old learned Craft Hospitality had scheduled its 2025 Beer Fest on the same day as Bierfest. When she asked Gelin if he would consider moving his event out of concern that it would confuse customers and vendors, Old recalled that Gelin said it would be “desirable” for the events to share the date. Still, Gelin obliged. Philly Beer Fest 2025 took place one week after Bierfest.

    “After that conversation and then for this year, I didn’t think I needed to follow up with them. I assumed that they would continue choosing a different date,” Old said.

    We tried a cocktail bar’s new Philly-themed menu, from the HitchBOT to the Crum Bum

    When she learned in September that this year’s Beer Fest was once again set for same exact date as Bierfest, Old figured it wasn’t worth reaching out to Gelin again.

    “If you’re renting your venue, it’s too late to change by that point. Six months is cutting it too close to make any changes,” she said. “And it was clear to me at that stage that [Craft Hospitality] saw having [its] event on the same date as ours as a benefit.”

    Craft Hospitality did not respond to questions about whether its founder had been contacted by Old. “Philly Beer Fest is not affiliated with Philly Bierfest,” they said in their statement. “They are separate events with different producers, different names, different socials, different formats, different pricing, different breweries, different cultural focuses, different venues, and overall different experiences.”

    Festivals with different aims

    The different vibes are part of the problem, according to Rebar, the festival organizer who specializes beer festivals.

    Bierfest typically draws “real beer enthusiasts,” who are there to drink but also to deepen their understanding of German brewing techniques and beer culture. The festival’s format includes beer seminars, a food hall showcasing traditional German eats by local makers, a German Masskrugstemmen (stein-holding) strength competition, and performances from Bavarian folk dancers.

    An attendee at the 2024 Philly Bierfest, which has been held on the last weekend of February since its inception in 2023.

    Beer Fest, said Rebar, is for people who want to party. The festival is a hodgepodge of beer, hard seltzer, and spiked tea purveyors compared to Bierfest’s lineup of respected German beermakers and Pennsylvania brewers making traditional German beer styles.

    “There’s no educational standards to it. It’s just a generic festival, and it’s not [organized] by anybody local,” said Rebar, who attended the first Beer Fest in 2024. “Philly Bierfest has been around for so long, has a really good representation, and has a very clear mission.”

    Craft Hospitality did not respond to questions about whether it would provide refunds to attendees who showed up thinking they were at Bierfest and are dissatisfied with their experience.

    And while Rebar concedes that it would’ve been difficult for Craft Hospitality to reschedule given the impact on vendors, she said the winter months are typically slow for beer-industry events.

    Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    “There’s plenty of other weekends in January, February, [and] March when there’s not a lot going on,” Rebar said.

    Not everyone views the festivals as being in competition. Currently three local breweries are participating in both festivals: Norristown’s Von C Brewing, Broad Street Brewing in Bristol, and Triple Bottom Brewing in Spring Garden.

    Old said she didn’t force any vendors to choose between the two events. “I hate to put my vendors in an awkward situation … We do not have a problem with anyone being registered for both.”

    Triple Bottom Brewing is one three breweries participating in both Philly Bierfest and Philly Beer Fest on Feb, 28, 2026.

    Triple Bottom Brewing co-owner Tess Hart has found a silver lining to the fest-on-fest drama. The six-year-old brewery has repeatedly participated in both festivals. The dual events kick off Triple Bottom’s 16-week brewer apprenticeship program for individuals impacted by the justice system and housing insecurity, she said.

    This year’s 10-person cohort started last week, Hart said, and they’ll be staffing both festivals concurrently. The challenge, she thinks, will be rewarding.

    “We’ll be stretched a little thin on Saturday,” Hart said. “But this will be a good opportunity to get them out of the taproom and really well-practiced about talking about beer in a high-volume situation. For us, that’s a big benefit.”

  • Can the return of Eagles OLs Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson save Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

    Can the return of Eagles OLs Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson save Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

    You never know how Jeffrey Lurie sees his team, but, after two Super Bowl trips and two post-Super Bowl disasters, it feels more than ever like there’s a one-year window in which Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts can save their jobs in Philadelphia.

    Their chances got a lot better Thursday.

    That’s when The Inquirer reported that right tackle Lane Johnson, arguably the greatest Eagle ever and inarguably the greatest Eagles offensive lineman, would return for a 14th season. The Birds are 110-57-1 with Johnson, 18-27 without. He’s the only Eagle on either offense or defense to start in both of their Super Bowl wins. Johnson considered retirement after missing the last seven games with a foot injury and after offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland resigned.

    Eagles star tackle Lane Johnson will return to team in 2026

    Thursday also was when both The Inquirer and former Eagles TV reporter Derrick Gunn reported that left guard Landon Dickerson, whose body has endured multiple injuries beginning in college, will return for a sixth season. Before this season, Dickerson was voted onto the three previous Pro Bowl teams.

    There has been a lot of noise since the Eagles’ season ended a month ago: A.J. Brown’s dissatisfaction; the firing of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo; the tortuous pursuit of his replacement, who turned out to be little-known Sean Mannion; and the possibility of losing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to retirement.

    None of those issues mattered as much as the possible loss of Johnson and Dickerson.

    Marcus Hayes: All this talk about trading A.J. Brown is madness. Anyway, you’re talking about trading the wrong Eagle.

    Replacing either of them would have been difficult.

    Replacing both would have been catastrophic.

    That’s because Hurts has shown little capacity for success in the NFL unless he plays behind an elite offensive line. When the Eagles went to Super Bowls after the 2022 and 2024 seasons, the offensive lines were elite and stable. They were markedly less so in 2023 and 2025, seasons in which the Eagles lost their first playoff game.

    Not coincidentally, Sirianni’s offenses have flourished when Johnson, Dickerson, & Co. have been healthy and wisely utilized, relying on a turnover-averse run-first attack.

    Eagles guard Landon Dickerson blocks Detroit Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes.

    When healthy, Johnson and Dickerson, both athletic freaks, are voracious run-blockers.

    An ancillary benefit of Johnson returning relates to the departure of Stoutland. “Stout” is the only offensive line coach Johnson has ever had in the NFL; for that matter, that’s true of every other Eagles starter.

    But no other Eagles lineman has either the base of knowledge or capacity to impart that knowledge on teammates like Johnson. He founded and runs an annual offensive line offseason camp every summer in Texas called OL Masterminds.

    Almost every lineman that has ever played with him testifies that Johnson has, at some point, acted as a sort of assistant coach when Stoutland or his offensive line assistants weren’t fully able to get their message across.

    More than anything, Johnson brings a level of intensity and professionalism to every game and practice that few others in the NFL can match. It is why he is great, and that sort of greatness is contagious. Certainly, Dickerson has benefited.

    So, their return not only could save the 2026 season, but it also could extend the Philadelphia shelf-life of both coach and quarterback.

    Granted, there are contingents of fans and pundits who would rather that either one or both leave the employ of Lurie sooner than later, and so this development on the offensive line might not be met with unrestrained joy.

    But one never should be thankless for news that is, on the whole, good for their own self-interests.

  • The best things we ate this week

    The best things we ate this week

    Country-style spinach pie at Madis Coffee Roasters

    I’ve been devoted to spanakopita since growing up in Metro Detroit, where Greektown was among my favorite downtown haunts. Philadelphia has great spinach pies, too, from Zorba’s Tavern in Fairmount to Stina near West Passyunk. But lately, I’ve become obsessed with the big round pans of spanikopita served at Madis Coffee Roasters, the fast growing local trio of modern cafes owned by the Navorsidis family. Their coffee is also excellent, by the way, including a well-balanced “Four Seasons” blend that’s become a regular in my house rotation of morning brews, as well as quality pour-overs of single-origin beans.

    But the spanakopita the cafes import from Greece is one of the main reasons I frequently stop at Madis’ spacious Curtis Center location beside Independence Hall for breakfast before heading into The Inquirer newsroom nearby. Unlike the vast majority of spinach pies made in the U.S., which feature ultra-flaky and delicate phyllo, these big round pies made by Rodoula in Athens are encased in crispy waves of thicker phyllo sheets that are typical of the more rustic country style, especially when shaped into rounds.

    An imported round spinach pie made by Rodoula in Athens, this one stuffed with extra feta, is warmed to a crisp and served at Madis Coffee Roasters locations across Philadelphia.

    I give credit to Madis for warming it correctly, since I’ve had other versions of the same pie elsewhere (at a local gyro chain) where the same pastry was hastily underbaked and chewy. At its toasty, tawny prime, a crusty wedge of this pie shatters beneath fork and knife around a luxuriously soft filling of spinach, leeks, and extra cheese — a particularly creamy blend of tangy sheep and goat’s milk feta. Straight from Athens to the cradle of Liberty, it’s the spanakopita breakfast of champs. Madis Coffee Roasters, 601 Walnut St., 3527 Lancaster Ave., 1441 Chestnut St.; madiscoffee.com

    — Craig LaBan

    The sea scallop crudo and burrata served at Emilia, the Italian restaurant from Greg Vernick, in Kensington on Friday, January 23, 2026.

    Scallops and burrata at Emilia

    When Greg Vernick and Meredith Medoway were previewing the menu at Emilia, their new Italian restaurant in Kensington, they seemed proud of a dish pairing scallops and burrata in a caper vinaigrette. “That surprises people at first because of the similar textures,” Vernick said. Oh, it’s a surprise, all right. What it lacks in crunch it more than makes up for in lusciousness. The kitchen thinly slices day-boat sea scallops from Viking Village in Barnegat Light, N.J., and fans them over a puddle of burrata cheese and a vinaigrette made of capers and Calabrian chili oil. Sea salt goes on top. And here’s a tip to get the most of it: Your Emilia meal will start with house-made focaccia, Italian breadsticks, and a slice of Mighty Bread’s sesame ciabatta. Put aside some ciabatta. After you finish the scallop, you’ll use it for mop-up duty. Emilia, 2406 Frankford Ave., 267-541-2360, emiliaphilly.com

    — Michael Klein

    The Clam Posillipo pizza from Wilder.

    Clam Posillipo pizza at Wilder

    To me, Valentine’s Day has always been about celebrating the things I already love about my life — my partner, my cat, and all the restaurants I depend on for date-night specialness — so I rarely want to go some place I’ve never tried before for the holiday. That changed this year when my partner and I went to Wilder for the first time and tried a pizza so good it has converted us to wannabe regulars.

    Wilder’s clam Posillipo pizza is a take on the classic Italian American dish (and Frank Sinatra favorite) wherein littleneck clams are steamed in a light, garlicky tomato sauce. For the pizza version, Wilder sprinkles briny Taggiasca olives, breadcrumbs, and parsley atop a vibrant tomato sauce. The clams’ contribution wasn’t fishy — they created an experience more like eating a pie by the beach in the summer: fresh and a little salty, with a delectably doughy crust. Wilder, 2009 Sansom St., 215-309-2149, wilderphilly.com

    — Beatrice Forman

    A mango calamansi danish from the Sir/Mom Tour pop-up at Small Oven Pastry Shop.

    Mango calamansi danish from the Sir/Mom Tour pop-up at Small Oven Pastry Shop

    It’s still gray and cold out, but a limited-time pastry offering helped me briefly forget. As part of their “Sir/Mom Tour,” chef Mike Strauss of Sidecar Bar & Grille (and formerly Mike’s BBQ) and his wife, Eylonah Mae Strauss, staged a Point Breeze kitchen takeover last week, sharing their love of Filipino cuisine with a slate of specials served at chef Chad Durkin’s Porco’s Porchetteria/Small Oven Pastry Shop and Breezy’s Deli. I went specifically for the mango and calamansi danish — a burst of citrus and sunshine that sold out both days. The silky yellow custard encrusted in golden flaky pastry with small bites of fruit laced throughout made for a gorgeous pick-me-up. I hope we see another collab soon, but given the Strausses live in the Philippines — where they run Sugaree Gelato Bakery Cafe in Bacolod — I expect a long wait. Small Oven Pastry Shop, 2204 Washington Ave., 215-545-2939, smallovenpastryshop.com.

    — Emily Bloch

  • Mike Nardi only knew Villanova basketball. Now, he’s trying to help UConn dominate the Wildcats.

    Mike Nardi only knew Villanova basketball. Now, he’s trying to help UConn dominate the Wildcats.

    Mike Nardi turned 41 a few weeks ago, and considering he arrived on Villanova‘s campus as an 18-year-old freshman in 2003, played under Jay Wright for four seasons, then joined Wright’s staff in 2015 after seven years playing professionally overseas and remained on the bench through the end of last season, Villanova basketball was basically all Nardi knew for most of his adult life.

    He was there in the nascent days of Wright’s dynasty as a player and was back on the bench in time to enjoy the two national championships he laid the groundwork for.

    Xfinity Mobile Arena has been the site of many memories. Villanova fans still recite Sean McDonough’s “Nardi for three and the lead” call during an ESPN Big Monday broadcast on Feb. 13, 2006, with reverence. Nardi, who had missed the previous two games with tonsillitis, drilled a transition three-pointer from the right wing in front of the Villanova bench during a 22-4 run that erased a 12-point deficit and gave fourth-ranked Villanova its first win over No. 1 UConn in three years.

    A year earlier, the building was where Villanova, during a freshman season that saw Nardi make the All-Big East rookie team, announced its arrival on the national stage with a blowout victory over second-ranked Kansas.

    Nardi is returning to that building Saturday night. It’s the latest installment of the Villanova-UConn rivalry (5:30 p.m., FOX). But Nardi will be on the visitor’s bench, and he’d like nothing more than to prevent Villanova from getting its best win of the season over his fifth-ranked Huskies.

    Mike Nardi joined Jay Wright’s staff in 2015.

    “I had a great experience, but the emotions for me now are, ‘Hey, it’s competition,’” said Nardi, who was hired by Dan Hurley to be an assistant coach after Villanova brought in Kevin Willard last year. “I’m competing and I’m at a place where we want to win. The emotions and all of that, I’ve never been a guy to get caught up in that kind of stuff. There’s a task at hand and we want to go there and get a win and that’s the most important thing.”

    Has Villanova’s winning streak opened the door for new NCAA Tournament seeding? Yes and no.

    Nardi already got some of those feelings, if there were any to begin with, out of the way during Villanova’s trip to Connecticut in January. He caught up with Ashley Howard, JayVaughn Pinkston, and Nick DePersia, the only holdovers from Kyle Neptune’s staff; longtime radio voice Whitey Rigsby; athletic director Eric Roedl; and longtime sports information director Mike Sheridan. Then it was all business. Villanova was Nardi’s scouting assignment for each of the matchups this season. He exchanged his pleasantries, said his hellos, and then he helped coach a UConn overtime victory.

    “I was sad to see it end, but I landed in a place where, again, it’s like the standard of college basketball,” Nardi said. “I’m working for another Hall of Fame coach, a guy who has won at every level. For me, it’s a great learning experience because I played at Villanova, I coached at Villanova, and besides going overseas and seeing different systems and playing for other coaches, I really haven’t had a chance to branch out and see a different system and learn the game a different way.”

    If it were up to Nardi, this story probably wouldn’t be written. He returned a reporter’s call Friday in part, he said, out of respect for Villanova. He doesn’t want Saturday night to be about anything more than UConn trying to go on the road against a good team in a tough environment and get a win in its pursuit of a Big East regular season title.

    “I don’t want to make this about me,” he said. “It’s really not Mike Nardi and coming back to Villanova. This is about UConn and Villanova. That’s what’s most important to me.”

    Former Villanova coach Kyle Neptune (left) and assistant coach Mike Nardi shown during the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden last March.

    It didn’t take very long to get over being on the other side of the rivalry despite all his history with it. The good and the bad. He made that crucial three to earn his first win over UConn in 2006, then watched the meaningful portion of the 2024-25 season end at the hands of Hurley in the Big East tournament, only to have his friend, Neptune, fired a few days later.

    Nardi respects winning, he said, and respects excellence. He always viewed Connecticut in that light, from Jim Calhoun’s teams to Hurley’s. It was a good landing spot for him for basketball reasons and because Hurley, he said, respected everything Nardi was about, from playing for St. Patrick High School in New Jersey against Hurley’s father’s St. Anthony, to playing and coaching in the rivalry.

    Nardi wasn’t asked to stay by Willard, he said, and never expected to be.

    “I never felt slighted. I never felt a certain way,” Nardi said. “I kind of knew there was a slim chance of me being asked to stay. And that was OK. I didn’t take that the wrong way. I think I’m good at what I do. I think I could’ve been an asset, but I never ever looked at it like this is messed up, why aren’t you keeping me? That’s not how this works.”

    Bill Melchionni is a Villanova hoops icon. His grandson hopes to uphold the family name in lacrosse.

    Hurley, meanwhile, thought Nardi could be an asset in Connecticut. The Huskies are 24-3 after a Wednesday night home loss to Creighton, and they’re pursuing a third national title in four seasons. Villanova, meanwhile, is 21-5, 12-3 in the Big East, and in line to snap a three-season NCAA Tournament drought.

    Nardi was happy, he said, that Willard got the job. He wanted the school to hire someone who cared about the program, and Willard fits that description. Part of him is happy to see Villanova back in the mix, but he’s not watching Villanova games in his free time with his old No. 12 jersey draped over his shoulders.

    “It’s good to see them doing well,” Nardi said. “It’s obviously good for the league. I think that’s a big piece of it. But I’d be lying to you if I said I was rooting for them. I don’t root for anybody else in the league. I’m rooting for UConn and that’s it.”

  • Wawa has expanded far beyond Philly. But hometown fans still fuel the chain’s success

    Wawa has expanded far beyond Philly. But hometown fans still fuel the chain’s success

    Wawa customers have been able to order roasted chicken on sandwiches, salads, burritos, and more since summer 2024. Hoagie-loving Philadelphians may scroll past the high-protein option on Wawa’s trademarked built-to-order screens, while others tap its icon instinctively in their rush to order lunch.

    Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens said he sees the chicken breast differently.

    From idea to inception, “that was a labor of love for quite a long time,” Gheysens said in a recent interview. “It’s 37 grams of protein, something consumers are really looking for today.”

    And, he added, “it’s still highly customizable, which our customers love doing at Wawa.”

    To Gheysens, the menu addition shows how the Delaware County-based company responds to consumer demand. Just as it did decades ago when Philly-area store managers began brewing coffee for customers on the go, and in 1996, when Wawa executives decided to start selling gasoline.

    Even now, with nearly 1,200 stores in 13 states and Washington, D.C., Wawa is still listening to consumer feedback, Gheysens said. And despite expanding as far away as Florida and Kentucky, the CEO said, the convenience-store giant remains especially in tune with its hometown fans.

    “For a lot of people, it’s their daily routine,” said Gheysens, a South Jersey native. “It becomes a part of their neighborhood. It’s a relationship that’s built on consistency, on trust” — and on getting customers out the door in five minutes or less, depending on the time of day.

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    Customers say they are drawn to the homegrown chain for its convenience, consistency, quality, and wide-ranging menu of grab-and-go and made-to-order items (even though some miss the old Wawa delis where lunch meat was sliced on the spot).

    In Runnemede, 78-year-old Barbara MacCahery said she goes to her local Wawa at least a couple of times a week — “sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for a sandwich, a lot of times for coffee.”

    In MacCahery’s mind, she said, the chain has proven itself time and time again for decades: “It’s very rare that you’ll have a bad experience.”

    Wawa’s ‘secret sauce’ for success

    More than 100 years ago, Wawa started out as a dairy, delivering milk to Philadelphia-area households.

    Wawa has set a national standard for success in the convenience-store industry, said Z. John Zhang, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

    “It really is some kind of a secret sauce,” said Zhang, who studies retail management. “For many people, Wawa has become a destination store,” one that combines “speed, customization, and perceived high quality” with near-constant availability — many Wawa stores are open 24/7.

    The company got its start as a dairy, delivering milk to Philly-area households. In 1964, it opened its first store in Folsom. Soon, the family-owned company expanded into New Jersey and Delaware, and established a reputation for quality and speed, with slogans like “People on the Go — Go to Wawa Food Markets.”

    Wawa’s first convenience store opened in Folsom, Delaware County in 1964.

    Wawa is privately held, owned in part by workers who get a percentage of their earnings contributed to an employee stock-ownership plan. Zhang said this program likely leads to more-invested employees who provide better customer service.

    Because Wawa is not public, it is not required to disclose its finances, and company executives declined to discuss them.

    But by many appearances, Wawa seems to be doing well: Over the last decade, the company has increased its store count by about 65% and doubled its workforce to about 50,000 associates.

    Philly-area Wawas are often crowded, too, which is key to making money in the convenience-store industry.

    A gas attendant fills up a customer’s tank at a Wawa in Pennsauken in 2020.
    A history of Wawa’s on-again, off-again relationship with Center City

    Consumers spend about $7 on average when they stop at a convenience store, said Jason Zelinski, vice president of convenience and growth accounts for NielsenIQ.

    “We think it’s high-impulse, but 80% of all people who walk into a convenience store pretty much know what they want,” said Zelinski, who consults with retailers. (He declined to discuss specific companies and said he has never worked for Wawa.)

    Successful operators have encouraged customers to spend more by adding seating and improving their food service, Zelinski said. And stores with better food see higher profit margins.

    “Once you have somebody that’s addicted to your food service program, they’re more likely to come back to your store vs. a competing store,” he said.

    In 2020, Wawa debuted new menu offerings, including hamburgers, pot roast, rotisserie chicken, pasta alfredo, and kids meals, at a tasting in Media.

    Wawa has certainly gotten people hooked on their coffee, hoagies, and ever-expanding menu, Zhang said. Options added in recent years include pizza, wraps, protein-packed “power meals,” limited-edition coffee flavors, and smoothies “boosted” with protein, vitamins, and minerals.

    Yet Wawa has not expanded in all areas.

    The company recently closed several stores in Center City, citing “safety and security concerns” in some cases. Last month, it closed its Drexel University location after its test of a digital-order-only format was not successful.

    In the Philly suburbs, smaller-format Wawas have also shuttered, often in communities that already have multiple larger Wawas.

    This older Wawa in Cherry Hill closed in 2024. The township has six remaining Wawas.

    Despite Wawa’s best efforts, not all stores thrive, Gheysens said. But “luckily for us, we’re still in growth mode, and don’t have to worry about closures in a broad way.”

    Gheysens said he sees room for more Wawas in the Philadelphia market — even as convenience-store competitors like Maryland-based Royal Farms and Altoona-based Sheetz have opened new stores in the region.

    Sheetz wants to move into Delaware County, home of Wawa

    Wawa executives want “to make sure that we are the number-one convenience store in the area, that’s important to us,” Gheysens said. “These are our hometown counties.”

    What keeps Philly-area consumers going to Wawa

    A Wawa customer eats a breakfast Sizzli during the 2024 grand opening of the company’s first central Pennsylvania store.

    Many Philly-area consumers grew up alongside Wawa.

    In interviews with nearly a dozen of them, some were quick to reminisce about early memories of their local stores, such as the distinct smell of coffee and deli meat or the excitement of a Wawa run with high school friends. Others bemoan what has changed with the company’s expansion, including more congested parking lots.

    Most have a quick answer when asked what their Wawa order is.

    Rick Gunter, 45, of Royersford, misses the Wawa of his youth. Back in the day, he said, the Wawa hoagies “hit different,” with lunch meat fresh off the slicer.

    Contrary to some customers’ beliefs, most stores still bake Amoroso rolls — a custom recipe made exclusively for Wawa — fresh in store multiple times a day, Gheysens said. As for the deli meat, the CEO said that was another decision rooted in customer preference.

    When customers have participated in blind tests of the pre-sliced meat Wawa uses today against a fresh-sliced alternative, “they can’t tell the difference,” Gheysens said. “They would choose our pre-sliced meats, because of what we’ve done in terms of quality and the supply chain and the ability to deliver them at such a pace.”

    A sandwich maker at Wawa wraps a hoagie with turkey, provolone, tomato, and lettuce in this 2020 file photo.

    Some customers disagree.

    “It was way better when it was kind of also a deli. Now they try to make everything for everybody,” said Bill Morgan, 79, of East Coventry Township. “I’m within five miles of three Wawas, but I rarely eat their food. Only under extreme duress.”

    Morgan acknowledged he must be in the minority, given how crowded Wawas are at lunchtime. And despite his distaste for much of their food, he said he still gets gas there and loves their coffee. And he can’t help but admire their business model.

    “I wish they’d sell stock,” Morgan said.