Wawa countdown - a matter of months - cultlike followers from the land of Wawa are close to getting their fix

Locally, construction starts this spring at locations on Gandy Boulevard in Pinellas Park; the site of a former Giordano's restaurant in South Tampa; at Starkey and Ulmerton roads in Largo; and at Bloomingdale Avenue and U.S. 301 in Hillsborough County. Wawa is assembling the sites to double that quickly.

For the uninitiated, Wawa combines its mega-filling stations with C-stores four times the size of a 7-Eleven. Staffed by 30 people, each Wawa features made-on-site deli hoagies, gourmet coffees, fresh-baked goods and groceries 24/7.

While many 14- to 20-pump filling stations treat food-to-go as an afterthought, Wawa, which is leapfrogging into Florida after covering the mid-Atlantic with 600 locations, gives takeout and dashboard dining top priority. "We're a food retailer first," spokeswoman Lori Bruce said.