MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. -- Thousands of people planning to hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend are closely watching rising gas prices.
But, do you ever wonder why the prices seem to fluctuate so much? At times, drivers find more than a 20-cent difference between stations in the same county, on the same road.
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Robert Stevenson owns the 95 Plaza gas station on Kanner Hwy in Stuart near I-95. He says with more big-name gas stations opening in Martin County, a “gas price war” is underway, and the locally owned stores are fighting an uphill battle.
Stevenson posted the following note on his gas pumps, explaining to customers why his prices are so much higher than other big stations that have locations nationwide:
RACETRACK, SPEEDWAY, MOBIL, SUNOCO fear WAWA< Racetrac new openings in Stuart and are pricing .15 CENTS UNDER COST. Run by the oil companies direct, they can take huge losses here and make up for it in other parts of the USA. HESS went out and SUNOCO will be sold by year end and leave Florida also. In the meantime, thanks for your support while this temporary price war goes on in Stuart. - The Stevensons.
Customers like Veronica Arteaga say they don’t typically fill up with gas at Stevenson’s store. “It’s too expensive,” Arteaga said. She filled up there Wednesday only because she said her car was on empty.
Plaza 95 is often at least ten cents above the prices of bigger stations nearby. Today, prices posted at the station reached $2.44 per gallon. Within a few miles of the station, prices dropped below $2.23 for Diesel.
“It’s continuously putting the small business man in a tougher position,” Stevenson said. “'I'm not gauging them, okay. Because my price of gas is 15 cents more than racetrack, I'm not putting that 15 cents in my pocket.”
He explains a lot of the prices fluctuate because of location, taxes and even rent payments that larger companies don’t typically have to worry about when they often own the land.
Stevenson says the biggest driver in the variations in price is a mandatory price minimum that some of the bigger companies do not abide by. For example, Wednesday, he says the price minimum in Palm Beach and Martin Counties was $2.25 per gallon, meaning gas stations shouldn’t charge anything less than that.
However, Stevenson says bigger companies will often price below that minimum, which local stores can’t afford to do. It's good for consumers, but hurts small business.
“They don’t care if they make money on that [local] facility at the corner. They’re making money nationwide,” Stevenson said. Bigger companies can risk taking a loss in Martin County if they’re making more money in other areas of the country.
Stevenson predicts about 20% of dealer, or locally owned stations across the country will go out of business by 2017 because of price competition.
He’s grateful he has something other than gas to attract business. “When I do come over here, it’s for the Dairy Queen,” said Arteaga.
