Salisbury South Wawa Being Proactive

Salisbury's south end Wawa convenience store and gas station has long been plagued by non-customers, many of them from the North Camden/Smith Street area, neighborhoods known to be the home of illicit drug users, addicts and dealers. It was often the case that paying Wawa customers would be approached by panhandlers or beggars and greeted with "do you have a dollar for some food" (offers of actual food were usually refused) or told a story about a bad car alternator or a need to collect bus fare for a trip to Norfolk or Wilmington. The stories were widely varied but the message was the same. Customers were tired of it and many took their business elsewhere. Wall-mounted signs advising against loitering were ignored. Police were called, often several times daily, to move the offenders on and encourage them to utilize social services in the area, even supplying them with a list of those services and their contact information. But as one panhandler left the premises, often for another high traffic south end business, another would take his or her place, necessitating yet another police call, responded to by officers already overtaxed by high call numbers, another call paid for by each and every one of the taxpayers of Salisbury. The strategies weren't working. Too much effort and private and public funds were being spent, too much business was being lost, and the area was threatened by further deterioration.

After long consideration, Wawa came up with a simple, yet effective method to discourage panhandlers from loitering on their property. Using maintenance cones and homemade signs, displayed at strategic points of their walkway, panhandlers who approach the area are warned of trespassing and encouraged to move on. Grammar suffers, but the message is clear: if you're not a customer, you don't belong here. Wawa managers and staff say that the simple signage has been very effective. Customers have openly expressed their gratitude to Wawa staff. Many customers have returned and even more are expected. Sales are up. Police calls are far fewer.

Salisbury News commends Wawa management for coming up with and implementing this simple strategy. It encourages others to follow suit in thinking out of the box to address this increasing local problem.