Gas-station owners' profits hinge on thirsty customers

[TechBear_Seattle]

Gas-station owners' profits hinge on thirsty customers

Convenience-store owner David Malik earns about as much on a can of Coke as he does on a typical 10-gallon purchase of gas.

Malik's gross profit on gasoline is roughly 3 cents a gallon after paying for supplies and credit-card fees, but he earns 30 cents on the soft drink.

And when trouble in a faraway oil-producing nation spikes energy prices, his profits here are squeezed even more.

"When oil-company profits go up, my profits go down," said Malik, 51, who lives in Bellevue and owns seven gas stations in South King County under different major brands.

The story continues at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003812418_gasretailers30.html

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

1. Incredible, but true...

There was a gas station here in suburban Milwaukee that stopped selling gas the last time the prices shot up (the guy's also a mechanic, so he has another source of income). But after the credit card fees, we was actually losing money on gas sales, so he stopped. I have no doubt that the reason every gas station in the U.S. is now a Quik-E Mart is that the food revenues are larger that the gas revenues.

[PA Democrat]

11. My husband has a friend that owned a number of gas stations and he

lost all of his stations due to this fact. I think that the big oil companies have intentionally tried to squeeze the independent owners out of the business.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

14. That being said...

It doesn't stop me from giving the station attendants good-natured crap when I stop in. I go to the same place all the time and know all the employees. And they know me well enough to not take any of it seriously.

[Grateful for Hope]

2. The gas station near me

was a combination repair shop/gas station. They recently stopped selling gas. It wasn't worth their while in respect to profits.

[_testify_]

3. I believe it

I am lucky enough to live within a half-mile of my office, so we only fill up maybe 3 times a month. But I still stop at the gas station every day for coffee, breakfast bars, etc. And judging by how the coffee pots are consistently empty, I'm not the only one. It's almost like the gas is an afterthought.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. If you live only half a mile from your office, why do you drive?

I would think you could walk that far, even in a suit and dress shoes, faster than it would take to drive. Healthier for you, healthier for the environment.

[Seedersandleechers]

6. Sometimes it's a matter of safety

I live a few blocks from work and I don't leave work until dark. Downtown it's not safe for a lone female to be walking home alone. It's sad but such are the times we live in today.

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Ah, ok

Yours is not the typical situation, then. My bad. :hi:

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. He lives in Tampa, Techie. I am south of him. Walking 100 yards this time of year means you are

soaked! The humidity is unbelievable in the Summer months in Florida. Not to mention, you could walk outside and see blue skies and ten minutes later it could be raining on you.

I live about 4.5 miles from my office and am considering buying a Segway but even with that, i could really only ride it to work in the fall and winter months. In the Summer, if it doesn't rain in the morning, it is usually raining by 5:00 PM.

A half mile doesn't sound far at all but when it is 90 degrees and 85% humidity at 8:00 in the morning, I don't know about you, but i need AC!

[_testify_]

13. I didn't even take the heat into account.

I used to work even closer to another job I had and I did walk to that one, but I'd have to bring a change of clothes with me because I would be soaked by the time I got there!

[_testify_]

12. 3 people in my home all work in the same office

We carpool.

It's also suburban Tampa, so there's no sidewalks to walk on.

[porphyrian]

4. Yep. The gas pumps are there to get people to stop, not to turn a profit for convenience stores.

I've worked my share of convenience stores. Speaking of, most people suck as gas customers without seeming to realize it or feeling justified in doing so for some reason.

[johnaries]

7. Nothing new. I managed some convenience stores in the '80s

and we always took a loss on gas sales. Gas was just to draw the customers in for the high-profit items.

[comtec]

10. Cigarettes are HUGE sales!

Back when i was a attendant (before I was robbed and had to quit due to lack of support by my company) We did MAJOR money in cigarettes. Gross it wasn't as much as the fuel of course (this was waaaaayyy back when gas was 1.49 on a bad day) and lotto.

Granted we were a one trick pony store. Gas and cigs, that's pretty much it. the Station was owned by the refinery (Rotten Robbies is a chain in California) but I'd guess it was the cigs that kept us in business half the time, especially since the gas hikes and people are right pissed about gas costs.

After I left, as i understand, they decided to make the office smaller, and open it up as more of a mini convenience store. I imagine the 7-11 not 50 feet from the door was raking in better profits, as they are just a 7-11, with no fuel overhead.

But yeah, even with smoking at an all time low in California, It is still massive business.