A popular gas station and convenience store chain wants customers to fly instead of drive.
Wawa plans to swap drive-thrus with “Fly Thru” mobile pickup windows at certain new store openings in the Midwest, according to multiple reports, where the company has already added Fly Thru to three existing stores. The convenience store, which has drawn praise for its made-to-order subs, sandwiches and drinks, is introducing the mobile windows six years after opening its first drive-thru locations in 2020
The mobile pickup windows will allow customers to order food and pick it up within 30 seconds without leaving their cars, Delaware-based Delco Today reported.
Wawa President Brian Schaller said during a company event this past week that he believes mobile pickup windows are “where the future is.”
The Independent requested information about Fly Thru from Wawa, including how many stores will feature the mobile ordering windows and the company’s plans to expand them beyond Midwest states, but had not received a response as of publication.
Wawa joins several other companies that invested in drive-thrus and mobile ordering pickup during the pandemic, as customers practiced social distancing measures that typically included keeping six feet between people.
Mobile pickup, in particular, proved a valuable asset for restaurants and retail stores during the pandemic. Their importance was immense, with many businesses seeing double-digit growth in their e-commerce departments.
Drive-thrus were also a focal point of several big companies’ investments.
“Drive-thrus proved to be a lifeline for fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s, which reported more moderate same-store sales declines as lockdowns went into effect and revenue that bounced back more quickly,” CNBC reported in August 2020.
The moves that Wawa has made over the past few years to improve customer experience seem to be working. It’s expanded its U.S. footprint from six states in 2023 to at least a dozen in 2026.
Since 2020, the company has also introduced an expanded menu that includes burgers and pizzas. Its bigger menu has helped Wawa pull market share from well-known fast-food and fast casual competitors, CNBC reported in October 2025. Customers who shop at both Wawa and Burger King, Wendy’s or Starbucks shop at Wawa more frequently than the others since 2023, CNBC found.
On the convenience store side, Wawa’s customer base grew from August 2023 to August 2025, CNBC reported, while competitors 7-11, Circle K and Sheetz lost customers during that same period.
Not only has Wawa made strides against competitors in several different industries, but it’s won the hearts of American consumers, too. The company was named the country’s favorite convenience store in 2024, according to the results of the American Customer Satisfaction Index Convenience Store Study 2024.
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