With all the discourse surrounding the new Wawa on campus, many students are buzzing with questions. Mr. Chris Gheysens, CEO of Wawa and Villanova ‘93, is willing to answer a lot of these questions. As a Villanova alum and current board member, he deeply understands the Villanova experience, and he wants what is best for the students and for the school. Using both a professional and personal lens, Gheysens provides his unique perspective on Wawa, Villanova and the inner workings most students do not get to see.

Since the process of building this Wawa happened quite fast, many are curious about how the idea came to be and what happened behind the scenes.

“I have to give Roger Demaresky a lot of credit, the Chief Operating Officer of Villanova,” Gheysens said. “I am on the board at Villanova, and Roger and I, as well as the other leaders at Villanova, certainly know each other because of that. Roger had been really reviewing Villanova’s whole strategy around food service. [He] brought the idea to me probably about a year ago.”

The pieces quickly fell into place. With the idea being born just a year ago, Wawa opening this year is truly impressive.

Wawa’s original plan was “that it would be open in the Fall of 2026,” Gheysens said. He recalls a poll that Villanova sent out to students, using their responses as fuel for future dining options. “Wawa was really high on the list,” he added.

From this overt student interest, combined with the idea of a Wawa already floating around the board at Villanova, they began working on the store’s construction plans.

“Father Peter, because of all this, got excited, and as good leaders do, he challenged us to do it this past summer. That accelerated the timeline dramatically,” Gheysens said.

“Originally, it was going to be Villanova staff working inside of Wawa with our technology and our products,” Gheysens added. “But because the timeline was sped up, there were a lot of hurdles legally and technology-wise. So we actually ended up having Wawa Associates staff and run the store with our technology, and that was the way we pulled it off.”

Another factor in the university’s food planning came from student feedback last semester. Gheysens noted that the overwhelming response to sushi on campus had caused board members to brainstorm ways to improve dining services overall.

One of the biggest questions students have raised since the Wawa opened is why meal swipes cannot be used there.

“It was technologically and economically really difficult for us to figure that out,” Gheysens explained. “If you think about the Wawa menu and that touch screen where you order food… There are so many pathways and options. We would have had to create a whole [different] menuing system.”

“Villanova wanted it to be a meal swipe program, but that was something we could not execute,” he added. “It is something we continue to think about, potentially giving some meal options that are a separate pathway for just meal swipes. It is work we need to do at this point. We wanted to get it sort of lifted and off the ground, use the points, and then learn and go from there.”

Hopefully, in the future, Wawa will allow students to use meal swipes for specifically crafted menu options.

 “It is a fair criticism, and [I understand] that is how Villanova has done things forever,” Gheysens said.

As a Villanova alum himself, Gheysens knows what it is like to be in students’ shoes. When asked if he would have liked having something like Wawa on campus, he did not hesitate.

“I would have loved to have an option like this… but [it] just was not there when I was around,” he said. “Villanova, they have a good food product. But when you go to many other schools, you are starting to see other national brands on campus. I just got back from a weekend visiting my son at Ole Miss. They probably have a dozen different national [food] brands.”

“Wawa should not be [Villanova’s] only step,” Gheysens added. “I think they are going to look to other national brands or even local brands… to continue to build out their food service.”

From this conversation, it is clear that Villanova deeply cares about students’ well-being. Expanding beyond the discussion of Wawa itself, Gheysens reflected on how Villanova laid the foundation for his own successful career.

“It had a lot to do with it,” he said. “I was an accounting major at Villanova. Villanova’s Business School is spectacular, and I say that as a CEO who has hired a lot of people out of different universities. When I see a Villanova resume, you are going to get someone that is super diligent, super intelligent, and a hard worker. Those things come together and show up in the workplace in amazing ways.”

“The other part [of Villanova] is you are surrounding yourself with unique people,” Gheysens continued. “I had a group of friends that are spectacular people that have done really well in their careers, and that is not by accident. The ecosystem, the alumni, and the current students are a really powerful group. I do not think I would be in this role if I did not go to Villanova.”

On the academic side, Gheysens identified two formative courses.

“I would say, on the business side, Cost Accounting [which now might be called Managerial Accounting],” he said. “How can an accountant help people in business understand their cost, cost out of products, understand their margins, and help them make better business decisions? It was a hard class, but it was well worth its difficulty.”

“When I went to Deloitte after Villanova, that led me to really go into their cost and retail accounting group, and retail clients became my basis of clients. Because of that, Wawa became a client [of mine]. So it really had somewhat of a pretty direct relationship.”

“The other [formative class] was Psychology,” he added. “That was sort of a big, you know, challenge the status quo, do not believe everything on the surface… and challenge yourself and other perspectives.”

Looking ahead, Gheysens addressed Wawa’s plans to expand.

“Right now, there is no other university targeted to have a Villanova-like concept,” he said. “There are universities that we will, like Penn State and some others, build stores in and around the school. But again, they will be accessible to the public.”

“For us, we are a big test-and-learn company,” he continued. “So we have some analytics that we will apply to this. We will look at economics and at the relationship with Villanova and make sure everyone is comfortable and happy with it. We will learn from the students what is working and what is not working. We probably have to figure out how to allow the college to run the store, unlike us running it.”

Gheysens highlighted the importance of feedback from students, calling them the “most important cohort of customers.”

“You are the most important cohort of customers, 18 to 24 years,” he said. “As you will grow, it will become the largest economic power of any cohort of any generation in our history. The data that we get from the Villanova store and the insights from the customers are super valuable for us to think about strategically over the next 5, 10, 15 years.”

Essentially, Villanova students should know that their voices matter. If they feel strongly about the new Wawa, whether positively or critically, Gheysens and other Villanova leaders want to hear it.

“We are listening and going to learn,” Gheysens said. “But hopefully the Wawa experience is one that hits home. It is trying to integrate and be a part of Villanova, but at the same time, it is bringing something truly unique that no other school has.”