2 gas stations near me that had for years sold either the cheapest gas in town (as monitored by a crowd-sourced web site and personal inspection) or nearly the cheapest stopped selling at a competitive price a couple of years ago. They’re selling gas now at about $1.30/gallon more than other stations within 2 blocks - except they rarely sell any. I buy tahini (best price in town) at one of them. I asked the clerk why they stopped selling gas. She told me they still were. Recently I passed by a station that has the same name as one of them: it had the same high price.
What do they have in common? They’re both owned by Muslims. I don’t know why this would have anything to do with it, but it’s a noticeable coincidence.
Supply chain ?
My middle eastern owned station ( Duke City Fueling ) is THE place to buy ( got better mpg with theirs in the past ) and always equal to the others within the competitive mile.
If the owners are new to the area …( their ethnic background should have nothing to do with it )…they may be ‘‘out of the loop’’ so to speak as far as the suppling refinery and it’s related customer base.
OR…
That ‘‘supply chain club’’ may have a prejudiced slant to it .
Is there any negative sentiment in the town for middle easten heritage business owners ? ( related to the supplier )
Is there a proximity reason for higher prices like interstate access or high-end neighborhoods ?
The gas station that’s closes to my house is about 40 cents/gallon more expensive than any other station in the area
i avoid going there, but only because of the price
I have no idea who owns it
There is another station that is right across from the supermarket I shop at. I try to plan it, so that I get gas right before or after shopping. This station is larger, at a busier intersection, and has many more pumps. Perhaps because of the relatively large volume of fuel they sell, they can offer low prices. And the other guy can’t . . . ?
If the price is too high just go somewhere else and don’t worry about it I find the statement about who owns the stations religion or ethnic appearance offensive.
I used to live near a Sunoco station that was priced much higher than any other station. Apparently the owner preferred fixing cars to selling gasoline. This station was also on a main drag into Baltimore City, and someone might just need gas bad enough to buy from him. If someone is in a hurry and the pump is available, they might stop and buy gas.
Who Knows? My Nearest Town Is 20 Miles Away And That’s Where I Go To Buy Gas. I’ve Been Buying Gas There For 36 Years.
There are currently six gas stations. Some are locally owned and some are corporate stations. For 36 years that I’ve lived in the area the stations all sell gas for exactly the same price, except for infrequent periods of perhaps 15 minutes when they vary by pennies. The gas is always higher than in any surrounding areas.
Funny thing is, a gasoline storage facility is in this town and a gasoline freighter docks next to the storage facility every couple of days. Gasoline tanker trucks fill up there and haul gas away.
Local folks constantly complain about the high price of gasoline and the fact the all stations seem to synch prices with the other stations in town. Letters to the editor about this situation are common in the local paper and citizens complain to government representatives, but nothing changes. It’s a way of life.
People try to figure out why the gas is high priced and the same at all stations, but who knows?
Maybe they sell a type of gas with additives that performs better w/higher compression engines. Only a few cars need it, but for those cars, that’s where the owners buy their gas. There’s a gasoline station nearby that pretty much only caters to high performance cars. The gas price is close to $1/gallon higher than where I buy. When I drive past that station I see mostly European and sports cars at the pumps, seldom seen are Corollas and Civics. The owners probably think their engines don’t ping with that kind of gas, but do with other brands.
I suspect that these same stations have other sources of income too. So selling gas is a side-line. Like they have a full service garage for maintenance and repairs, maybe emissions testing too. So selling gasoline is just one part of the business. And b/c they don’t sell much gas they can install smaller storage tanks, saving money on that expense. The station I referred to, from the looks of all the cars waiting in the storage area, they do a big business in repairing cars. The cars they repair are not the same cars that are buying the gas.
Could they be selling E0 gas when everyone else is selling E10? We have a few stations here doing that at a markedly higher price, although I don’t recall offhand exactly how much higher.
If I sell 1,000 gallons at a 30c markup the gross profit is $300. If I sell 10,000 gallons at 3c markup the gross is also $300. Why work so hard for nothing?
To Mr Ken Green: I write about Albuquerque: the H&H on Yale & Lead, the M&M on Yale and Kathryn; there’s another M&M on Coal just west of I-25.
To db4690: These stations are on busy streets with other gas stations within 2 blocks on the same street.
To Volvo V70: I’m asking, not complaining. I’ve talked to the owners, not stereotyped them. I worried about discrimination. I’m glad to hear from Mr Green that it isn’t the case with others.
To Mr jtsanders: There are no repairs at these stations, just gas and mini-mart stuff (except beer). I’ve heard about the Call Carl’s on Rock Creek Parkway that sells gas for $5 because they have a gas pump for their tow trucks and for the cars they fix: that’s different.
To Mr common sense answer: This is a city with about 100 stations and competitive prices.
To Mr GeorgeSanJose and Mr lion9car: They sell the same old gas everybody does. The Imperial on Juan Tabo & Indian School sells 104 octane (to airplanes?) but I don’t know of another place in town with specialty gas.
To Mr Rod Knox: I thought of that answer but I suspect it doesn’t work out. How long can gas sit in the tank and still be sold? Is there a regulation?
I don’t get, 2 BP stations, one 1 mile se, and the other 1 mile west, So I buy midgrade, and BP to SE is .60 more per gallon, and bp to the west is .30 more per gallon, usually .20 more. Figure that one out!
Right, the only reason for selling gas at close to or below cost is to get people in the door to buy other convenience items. Its a different business plan is all to sell gas at a higher profit if he’s already going to get the store traffic. If there is no store though, I’d keep an eye on who is hanging around there.
I have no knowledge of ownership history or the reasons for doing so but in OK City there is an intersection that is heavily traveled and there are 2 gas stations there; one across the street from the other. The layout, access, etc is almost identical.
One always seems to be about 70 cents a gallon higher than the other; same type gasoline, etc.
The lower priced one stays packed and the higher priced one sees very few cars. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because those convenience store stations generally rely on customers buying soda pop, chips, cigarettes, and so on to maximize profits.
If high gas prices are driving customers off then they’re also losing any profit on peripheral junk sales…
Gas dropped a quarter in the last 2 days here; down to 1.95.
In past years I have used four different nearby gas stations. But in recent years I have almost always used the newer Quik Trip because the pumps are always in good working condition and clean, it is well lit, the employees courteous and the convenience store kept clean.
Wow, a buck-30 higher than everyone else!? These stations don’t really want to sell any gasoline. I can’t imagine anyone buying gas there. I’ve never seen a station selling at a price 50% higher than anyone else. 5-10c, sure, but $1.30? No way.
And by the way, 91 octane E0 in my area sells for about the same as mid-grade E10 but I think it lacks the 50c road tax so it shouldn’t be used in road vehicles.
The only gas station close to my house is a small Shell station that has been owned by the same family for close to 70 years. They do a very good repair business, including the contract to repair the local postal vehicles, and it does appear that some people buy their gas there.
However, because they charge at least 60 cents more per gallon, I only patronize them when I need to fill a jerry can for my snowblower. They are very nice people, but I just can’t justify spending that much more for my gas when I can drive just a bit further and save a whole lot of money.
In any event, their business model seems to work for them, so–as Pope Francis said–Who am I to judge?