Gas Face Nominee Profile: Gas station owners
This is the only group on our list of nominees that actually gets the gas face on the regular (no pun intended!).
Not because they are so deserving of it but because they are such an easy target. Imagine working at a full service station right now. There’s no escaping the gas face there!
At current price levels, many people assume that owning a gas station would be extremely lucrative. But, on my daily commute (only 15 minutes thank goodness) I pass by three abandoned gas stations.
With gas prices reaching record levels, how could a gas station be forced to go out of business? Here’s how…
According to the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing, over eighty percent of gas purchases in America are made at convenience stores and profit margins on gas sales ”typically were two cents per gallon.”
That explains why the cash register area is so crowded! They want NEED you to buy roses*, beef jerky, sodas, tabloids and hot dogs for them to stay in business. Truth be told, owners make more money selling a bottle of Coke than ten gallons of gas!
So, there you have it. The folks on the front-line, manning the stations we frequent, have the least amount of influence over the prices we are forced to pay.
On your next visit to the gas station, consider shocking the owner with a Coke and a smile :)
*BTW, petrol-laced flowers are generally undesirable.
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POSTED IN: Commodities, Economy
2 opinions for Gas Face Nominee Profile: Gas station owners
Ren Garcia
May 13, 2008 at 6:21 am
From statistics from the Energy Information Administration, it looks like OPEC is the culprit. As a percent of retail price, crude oil has grown from 52% in March 2007 to 70% in March 2008.
Brian Jonke
May 20, 2008 at 2:02 pm
The earthquake in China is effecting the price of oil and effectively gas station owners’ margins as well. China’s coal infrastructure has been hit hard which has increased their reliance on petroleum, cutting into an already tight supply.
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