Why American Gas Stations Are Turning Into Supermarkets - Cheddar Explains
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- Опубліковано 31 тра 2024
- American gas stations are massive and only getting bigger. That's because most chains like Wawa, Sheetz, and Buc-ee's sell way more than just gas. So when and why did gas stations change from single-pump service garages to supersized, all-in-one travel hubs?
Further Reading:
The Hustle
thehustle.co/why-most-gas-sta...
Detroit Free Press
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CBS News
www.cbsnews.com/news/the-amer...
NBC News
www.nbcnews.com/business/busi...
Sarasota Magazine
www.sarasotamagazine.com/eat-...
NACS Magazine
www.nacsmagazine.com/magazine...
GasBuddy
www.gasbuddy.com/go/study-rev...
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I feel like y'all really dropped the ball on one aspect, the aspect of food deserts. As someone who grew up in poverty going to the gas station and grabbing a bag of chips was much cheaper and accessible than going to the store to buy groceries. Like we didn't even get gas, just food like Ramen, chips, Hot Pockets, ect. But we never had a choice, these were just the only available options since zoning didn't permit actual grocery stores in my neighborhood. Aside from that this was an interesting video but it certainly missed the mark
I remember asa kid grandad bringing stuff. Like. literally it was just him grabbing a few thigns while getting gas, but that was the thing small me looked forward to.
Then when Igot bigger and I'm riding along to help with my stepdad's landscaping and building jaunts for friends (I cannot drive, vision issues) gas station runins were a convenient way to grab a bag of chips, a drink, a way to top off without killing a lot of time we couldn't afford to burn.
I think you're talking about "food deserts" as areas within larger urban areas. How about isolated rural communities, where the nearest grocery store is up to 50 or 100 miles away? In those communities, the convenience store/gas station is the only place to get any food at all (unless you grow it yourself). I've seen some convenience stores stock fresh fruits and vegetables because they're the de-facto grocery store in that tiny community.
@@singletona082 not talking about stopping for snacks, or a quick bit. When I worked construction we'd regularly stop at a gas station. But I'm talking about poverty and the long lasting effects it has on health. It's not an accident only wealthy affluent neighborhoods can get quality food within walking distance or public transit while poor neighborhoods that don't have investors who will pay to navigate the system are stuck wit Family Dollar or gas stations. Also not only are they worse for our health but much more expensive so the poor working class gets screwed twice when we could easily fix this situation.
@@Toadfox1 yeah I am talking about that so pop off but you missed the point. I'm not condemning gas stations I'm condemning how people are forced to use gas stations as their only source for food.
@@thegoodgodabove8264 You and I agree about that 1000 percent.
The filling station will survive even if it goes fully electric. Think about it: Electric vehicles take time to fully charge, which means that people will need to sit in one place. This leaves the door open for all types of possibilities…food, shopping, etc.
Electric vehicles aren't charged the same way that people fill with gas. People just plug in and charge overnight at home or while they're at work rather than going somewhere to charge. Going to somewhere specific to charge is the exception rather than the norm
Its likely true for high way rest stops and such. Otherwise charging stations are going to be places like malls, restaurants, etc. My area this is already very much the trend. You don't need specific sites for EV charging, anywhere with electrical infrastructure and parking can do it, and locations with things to do for 20-30 minutes(like have a meal and take a bathroom break) are perfect.
Gas stations, less so. They're built around gas service. You're in the store for at most a few minutes and back on the road. That works for some charging scenarios (many trips don't require more than a top off especially when there's destination charging) but probably not what things will be built around
If anything we might see a return to road side attractions and tourist trap stuff.
@@ksevio when you do a road trip you tend to charge on the go. Currently I go somewhere where a charger is next to a Coffee shop, which is difficult to find. I really miss the Coffee from the Race trac Gas-station chain. But they don't have chargers so I don't go there.
@@ksevio Maybe at the moment it’s not the norm, but who knows how it may evolve? People can get drinking water from their faucets but that doesn’t stop them from buying bottled water. What if they start offering promotions to attract customers:
-Buy one full charge get the next 1/2 off 💰
-Earn a gift card to a retailer if you visit 3x this month!
-Free gourmet sandwich with full charge 😎
Conversely, supermarkets are becoming gas stations. In my ares, it started with the warehouse clubs, then came Kroger. I have seen Walmarts with pumps.
Giant Eagle in Ohio has their own Get-Go gas stations. Safeway on the West Coast as well. Pretty smart as they can get provide rewards for shopping at the grocery stores and then save 3 cents per gallon at the pump (or 10-20 if you've been spending lots ahe grocery store.)
Loyalty programs are fantastic ways to get repeat customers.
I just wish everything didn't require an app nowadays. My phone only has so much space, and I'm not a fan of turning on my GPS just so an all can use it the entire day and drain my battery.
Don’t forget Costco
And Woodmans too. They a huge supermarket in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
Meijer in Michigan and neighboring states.
I just moved from NY to Tennessee and found the gas station at the grocery store thing to be extremely odd. Never had that in my area
Here in Norway (the country with the vastly most EVs), almost all gas stations with some space available offer EV quick charging stations. Gas stations in other countries should do that too quickly, otherwise the chargers will get built in other places and they'll lose business. @7:10
Especially for EV charging, I think offering wifi might be a good move for them take, just a thought
That's the smartest move to make. As charging takes more time than refuelling, you can not only get income from recharging but also those who are waiting getting food/snacks/sitting down (which is more likely, especially considering the people with electric vehicles probably wouldn't mind spending money on those things as much).
London now has an EV filling station… no petrol at all, just solar/battery powered EV chargers, parking and the store.
Great idea, stations should offer alternative fuels as well as conveniences. There should be a number of different options like natural gas and hydrogen fill ups and EV charging stations.
@@jjbarajas5341 I don't know about Norway, but at least in Finland (a less rich neighbor of Norway) everyone has so fast, cheap and unlimited mobile data that nobody cares about WiFi.
Here in France we had the same evolution but reversed : supermarkets and hypermarkets built gas stations to attract customers, since the 1970s. They are even doing very low if not negative margins on gas sales; all they want is to capture customers. Gas stations are becoming quite rare and you are more akin to see them blocks away from supermarkets and/or on very busy roads or highways (where price can be higher cause people are in a hurry)
Interestingly, some gas stations had the same evolution than in the USA. One one of our main gas station network, Total, gave the managing of many of its gas station stores to Carrefour (one of the leader in retail) and turned them into conveniance stores. That even allows them to bypass a French law that restricts alcohol sales in gas stations (no sale between 6pm and 8am, and no sale of refrigerated beverages) because legally the store and the pumps are not the same buisness. Alcohol being 40% of their in-store sales...
I think France is the only country where I have seen totally automated petrol stations - no sign of human life (except for the driver). I guess you need to swipe your credit card before filling up!
Are they that common even in France? I guess you could get customers to spend more by putting in vending machines.
@@rogink almost all pumps are automated, or at least the recent ones. Even in gas stations. In supermarkets / hypermarkets stations it's 100%.
Sometimes you still have a cashier (during day hours), but even then the pumps have a credit card terminal. In the past 10 years I always paid on the pump's terminal.
@@rogink most pumps in the US are automated as well..
@@blancavelasquez9859 Even when you go to "full service" pumps in places that ban self service, like New Jersey, the pumps are set up as self serve (I guess it doesn't pay for the manuafacturers to make two different kinds...
@@rogink In Belgium and The Netherlands you can also see these. I mostly go to one of those. All of the stations I pass on my way to work are this model, except 1 in my home town, as that one has a convenience store attached. It's probably cheaper to do it that way and if you have a problem (I never had, so I don't know if it works) there a telephone number you can call.
Here in Germany you don't have convenience stores as such. And gas stations generally only have the "snacks" on sell - no wonder, the smaller ones often have only one employee in there. I never buy anything there because the prices are easily 50% higher.
In Japan on the other side, there are a LOT of convenience stores, but none of them sell gas - and they are smaller than the American gas station insides :D
Some of the Japanese convenience stores are also available in the USA, namely, 7-11 and Circle K, and, in one case (Lawson's), they originally WERE from the USA.
I believe some _konbini_ in Japan are located at service areas for limited-access toll expressways, and those may have related gas stations.
@@paxhumana2015 7-Eleven is an American company headquartered in Irving (near Dallas), just owned by a Japanese retail group since 1991 and more popular over there. Circle K is Canadian and left the Japanese market a few years ago. All stores have been rebranded.
Helps with high population density in urban Japan where multiple are literally across the street every block in a commercial business district. The Jack of all trades in the services provided. You can send mail, pay bills, buy tickets, print or fax documents/photos.
@@neubro1448 Sound like they are... convenient :D
I grew up in the 1960s when Service Stations were the norm. Besides selling gasoline, they could repair your car. There might be a candy machine, a cigarette machine, and a Coke machine. There was usually a public phone or phone booth outside.
ua-cam.com/video/r0fd6CLnLCM/v-deo.htmlsi=cJ9IYfqmyqE970N9 secret Harvard project for women and lesbian and Barbie free franchise pink gas station
There are still plenty of Wawa's that don't sell gas at all. They tend to be the older Wawa's. I think all new ones will sell gas, but they are still primarily a convenience store
wawaweewaa!
Same goes for QuickChek. The only QuickChek's that don't sell gas are old ones. All the new stores not only sell gas, but all the convenience stores follow the exact same building design and store layout.
I was weirdly obsessed with Wawa my last year of university. I'd always choose there over legitimately fast food because they also had groceries type things like fresh fruit or berries. I had 12 hour days with little 10-40 minute breaks between work and school, so I didn't want to live on like McDonald's.
As someone that has worked in a local gas station for the past 12 years, the loyalty thing is a little true. Our station has been a town fixture since the 90s, so there are people who talk about going there with their grandparents. Plus, our gas prices have always been cheaper than those around us (not being attached to a major corporation let's you do that), which keeps people loyal.
The only reason they have been “loyal” is because you have cheaper gas than those around you. Most of us dont care if its attached to a specific corporation, we will go wherever cheaper. Hence why I don’t usually support small businesses. Their prices are not competitive enough for me.
@@AaronEmerald The branded stations were the first to offer company credit cards and benefited from that. Bank cards became common and accepted every where making independents competitive. I can remember in the 70's only buying Mobil gas because I had their card.
You don’t realize it but just thinking about only yourself, you are in fact ultimately hurting yourself.
Sounds similar to how with pubs in the UK it tends to be the free houses that get the regular trade that just comes in without them needing to put on events or stuff to try and attract them. Free house in this instance meaning one not bound to a lease with a restrictive clause on where the alcohol can be sourced from. Many pubs are actually owned by breweries or distributors in the UK that use their power as a landlord to get a monopoly over the supply to many pubs.
@@AaronEmerald what you may think is a competitive advantage with larger corp ran entities is really just a monopoly of sorts making you think they have competitive pricing. Over 70% of businesses in US are small businesses. The Mobil, Total, BP, or Chevron stations are franchisees. Owned by a person who has to foot the bill to make you think there is a competitive advantage when there isn't. To say you don't support small businesses when you actually do and don't know it contributes to why the loyalty of smaller, independent stations remain as an outpost of rural America. Large corps won't make as much in smaller towns/cities and would rather siphon more $$$ from people like you who think they offer something better when they are often more expensive
In my city, gas stations have always had little kiosks, where they sold sweets, snacks, drinks, etc. But lately, they’ve been investing a lot of money into creating nice coffee shops where people can go even if they don’t need to get gas. Im talking about a quite dense city where most people don’t drive their cars everywhere.
The gas stations in the highway have been always attached to small convenience stores, sometimes there are McDonalds or burger kings or the gas station sells their own food (not bad/disgusting food, just quick bites like sandwiches, burgers, fries, etc to eat on the go. They are mainly places where people stop while traveling to go to the bathroom, stretch their legs and eat something (plus pump gas).
I wouldn’t mind not having to drive my car everywhere. Where i live that’s not really possible. It takes me 30 minutes just to drive to work, and if my car were to break down I’m not making it to work until it gets fixed
Literally bro lol this is nothing new maybe for other countries it's something I guess
Yeah that's been happening here in Australia. With the vast travelling
It's a good idea. On the highway out of the city it takes an hour just to get out of the metro limits than another
2 to down south to the beaches
And tourist towns. The other outback drive is 8 hours to the
First big town.
I’m old enough to remember there being full-service and self-service stations as a kid. 😬
Sheetz, Wawa, and Buc-ee’s have changed gas stations forever (and for the better I think). Nowadays, I choose a station that has a nice interior, large drink selection, and lots of pumps. Tiny 2-4 pump places rarely get my business unless absolutely necessary.
I think you missed one of the biggest players in the gas station industry in the US: Sheetz. They were the first convenience store to launch touchscreen ordering. Now every major C store chain uses it. Sheetz was also the largest seller of E15, and one of the first to introduce it broadly to their stores. Sheetz is consistently an industry leader in a lot of what is talked about in this video
I remember to this day my first time in a sheetz...1993...I traveled a lot and now finally I could get mto fresh food easily. Luckily sheetz has expanded into my home area so I still stop for an occasional salad!
Now that's the good Sheetz!
I was wondering when Sheetz would make an appearance in this video. To my surprise not a whisper. Perhaps it's too regional or 'new' relatively speaking. I would agree that in the past 20 years or more Sheetz has been a leader in the pack to expand what their stores offer.
they've finally come into my market and im glad they did
I recently saw a Sheetz station along US 30 in Westmoreland County, PA that has Tesla superchargers at it.
I work 2nd shift and I get done at midnight. I used to stop at mcdonalds once a week on my way home. After covid hit, they started closing at midnight. That is when I discovered these charbroiled cheeseburgers at circle k. They are pre-prepared and refrigerated but I like them better than mcdonalds. I take them home and heat them up, put my own toppings on them and air fry me some fries and it's awesome. Circle k is my new late night burger place.
3:29 i remember we went camping once for a whole week and we literally had breakfast and sometimes lunch or dinner at Wawa since it was closer than the supermarket and our cabin didn't have a fridge. Idk about everyday shopping but it was definitely convenient for out of town travelers like us.
Kinda interesting watching that from an Australian point-of-view. We've mostly followed the US with this, but we're usually a few years behind. Australia also has a couple of fundamental differences, too. The major one is the much lower average population density. This means we don't even need the same density of petrol stations or convenience stores as the US. The other big difference is that our supermarkets have an almost duopoly so the big two have each acquired a petrol station chain and re-branded or co-branded. This makes the convenience store part a lot more like a mini-supermarket, because, well, it frequently *is*.
It was barely mentioned, but dealing with the change to EVs is going to be a whole new ballgame, too, and one where a lot of different ideas are going to compete for a while. As drivers, taking a break of your journey to re-fuel the car works because it only takes a few minutes. I think that tends to drive petrol station placement for places conducive to breaking your journey. But most EV charging takes a lot longer, so a better place is where you were going to visit anyway. This is called Destination Charging and I am seeing a lot of people struggle to grasp that this means turning petrol stations into EV charging stations is a bad idea because their location is wrong for destination charging. Instead, you want EV chargers near town squares (near all those cafes and restaurants), at places like beachfront parking, etc, etc.
Honestly the smart move would be for any sit down restaurant (or even fast food restaurant with inside sitting) to install EV charging. If a person has to stop and eat what better time than to charge their EV? The other logical places to install EV charging are in what we in the US call rest stations. On our interstate highway system every so many miles rest stations are usually maintained by the state(province). They range from just a place for truckers to pull off the road and park all the way up to border greeting centers near the intersection of two states (provinces). The majority of them have restrooms, outdoor seating for eating, a place to walk the dog and stretch your legs and usually several vending machines. They would be a logical place to install EV charging as well. Whenever I'm doing a day long trip I stop far more often for bathroom breaks than I do for fuel. I also normally stop for at least one meal where I park to get food and eat it (even if it's fast food and I don't want to eat inside the restaurant I will usually eat in my parked car instead of trying to eat while driving down the highway). For multiday trips the other logical installation point is roadside motels. Put EV chargers in those locations and I wouldn't spend anymore time sitting still while charging than I currently do in a trip with a vehicle that runs on petrol.
I love Kwik Trip in Wisconsin! They have an excellent inside experience, and a very loyal fan base. I can see many of the points in this video relevant for them.
Walmart and other grocery stores no longer being open 24 hours really helps places like buccees attract even more customers at night.
Why did Walmart do that?
Robberies
Man I remember the feeling of being in a road trip and going to the gas station at 3 am lol those where life savers especially the bathroom
@@austinharding9734 it was initially in response to the Covid pandemic. Once they stopped being open 24/7 somebody in accounting must have realized that the savings in labor cost, lost productivity from not being able to stock the store as easily with customer inside and electricity savings (from not having to keep the store as brightly lit after closing) vs the lost revenue of not being open all night was such that it just made more sense not to stay open 24/7 anymore. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was a reduction in 24/7 retail operations and a reduction in the number of retail locations that were open on Thanksgiving Day.
i love race trac and QT clean and accessible bathrooms and decent food/snacks i drive a lot, i often will skip other just to go to these. Some of my favorite memories are going to the gas station with my dad and uncle and getting a cappuccino and a chicken biscuit before going to the river or traveling.
Here in Chile the convenience stores of the 3 main gas station chains (Copec's Pronto, Petrobras's Spacio1, and Shell's Upa) are now stating to open standalone stores because of profitability and image recognition.
The world I grew up in was one where any food you bought in a gas station that wasn’t in a sealed package was gross and scary, and even then you had to be sure that it wasn’t expired.
So I’m still a bit weird about buying much from gas stations.
I’m 19 by the way. Maybe some people had a different experience than me, and I’m the weird one.
It's been that way for a LONG time. Serious food hygiene is definitely a recent development.
i think i used to be like that until like 5 years ago. where are u from?
Really depends on what part of the country you’re in. Most gas stations I would never buy prepared food from, but Sheetz and Wawa are always stops when I’m on a road trip through PA.
@@Funkenstein91 I agree, it depends on the part of the country I think. I grew up in PA in Wawa territory (although Sheetz eventually moved in too). So I had a much more positive opinion of gas station food. I knew some gas stations had crappy food and I even had crappy gas station food recently here in Texas where I live now, but I know places like Bucees down here are just as good as Wawa and Sheetz, just without some of my local favorites from home. We also have this place Laredo Taco Company inside some gas stations here in Texas where you can get made to order tacos.
It depends on where you're from I used to be like this, but in Florida we have a gas station culture and Wawa, 7/11, bucees are packed with people at all times of the day.
Also, I think that people pay for their gas at the pump more and more, which decreases the chance to buy snacks at the same time. Or at least that’s the case for me.
Part of why cash is cheaper, have to go inside.
This is true, and thus they need to find ways to entice people into the store.
@@NicholasLittlejohn paying cash isn’t cheaper where I live?
@@unemilifleur some states have laws that make it illegal to do that. Might be you live in one that does. In Texas a great many gas stations will give you a lower price if you pay in cash.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 I don’t live in the US. A lot of places actually encourage paying before putting gaz in (and encouraging me even more to pay at the pump) to decrease robberies
Same thing in the Netherlands, but on a smaller scale. Gas stations inside cities becomes night shops. With a limited assortment of household food and items, besides candy and soft drinks.
When Grocery Stores and Warehouse stores started gas stations - that's when it changed. Because the Gas station part of business could just break even to draw customers to store.
I stopped at a Buc'ees on a whim on a road trip. Their food was legit good and they have a crazy number of options. Buc'ees is now a destination for me on trips, not a pit stop.
Yea none of these other gas stations can compare to Buc ee's, I feel sorry for the Shell, Pilot, and Speedway near the brand new Buc ee's in Crossville they are going to lose a ton of business when that thing opens
I was born in the 70s and convenience stores selling gas has been the norm my entire life. Filling stations were still around, but even in the 70s they were few and far between.
I moved to California from Oklahoma about 10 years ago, and now I miss QuickTrip like no other.
Get used to 7-11
Nobody in the ‘70s and ‘80s _ever_ used the term, “Smokes and Cokes.”
That’s laughable and ludicrous, as is most of this “history.”
Maybe it's a regional thing? My grandparents would say, "gas, smokes, and cokes."
Depends where you're from, Carson
Carson, not everywhere is exactly the same
Prob just depends on where you are from. You can't say nobody from the 70s and 80s never said it.
Best idea ever I always hated those small mechanic gas stations .. the vibes .. The convenience store gas stations have fresh coffee and interesting deals on food ..
Kevin Eisenberg, those "fresh sandwich" usually sit there for 2 days. disgusting ugh !
I'm a huge fan of Casey's here in Illinois. I actually only go there for their food and snacks 😂. They have a solid rewards program and always have special offers
Didn’t know Casey’s were in Illinois! Casey’s recently bought Pilot gas stations so Casey’s are showing up in Tennessee now.
Miss Casey's. Loved their everything cookie.
That pizza. Midwest comfort food.
same except sheetz instead of caseys
@@Tbone1725 so weird i thought they were a national chain
With EV growing it’s going to be a lot different soon. They’ll be going back to just a convenience store while EV charging will be at all retail and grocery stores and the employee parking of every office.
If EV comes to trucking you may see dual-use where personal cars and small trucks also use them.
@@brodriguez11000 They’re going to eventually convert to electric once all the companies switch.
No, I don't shop at my local gas station. Neither of the two local gas stations has any attendants, and they're on opposite sides of the road at the same place. There is however a supermarket next to one of the stations, though, where I shop often
I happen to shop at gas station but that's only because it's to late (or too early not sure which sense I work overnights) for grocery store to be open and I just want to go to bed
I feel electric vehicles will make the gas stations (that could be renamed to refuel stations to reflect gas and electric refuelling) more profitable. I mean it takes a while to charge the cars anyway. Even Tesla's fast charging capability too. People might end up having a full meal at gas stations because it takes almost 1 - 2 hrs to full charge or a decent charge.
most gas stations near me have outdoor seating with roofs, some also have attached patios that close up during winter with heaters which are fun to hang out for a bit while drinking coffee but dont currently have charging stations i have only seen a few that do.
30-40 minutes now
Years ago there was a local gas station that featured sub sandwiches that many raved about. I however wasn’t inclined to go to a sandwich shop located above a gas station car wash. Now I wish I would’ve tried them before Subway started taking over the local market.
Everything is much more expensive in these "convenience" stores than in normal supermarkets.
when i was young, there were 5 "filling stations" at the nearby major intersection - the 4 corners + 1 a half-block away. one of them was demolished & rebuilt decades ago as a 7-11 w/ gas but, no diesel. this became a problem as i once owned an old diesel Mercedes - safest car i ever drove. the 2 filling stations which sold diesel both went under so, i sold the old 300SD. 😢
EVs like Tesla will be the death of gas stations. many convenience stores will prolly disappear, too. stores and, especially, restaurants & cafes near highways will add chargers.
@@DavidCoxDallas , nope, electric vehicles, as well as so-called "alternative fuel source" vehicles, are going to die first.
petroleum we have is best reserved for the places it's actually needed: jet fuel & plastics come to mind.
@@paxhumana2015 how
As a non-driver from NYC, travelling to other places in the country that are car oriented (like Vegas), yeah the only place to go buy a bottle of water: a gas station store. (Note, I didn’t really have this problem in California cities and Seattle as I did find bodega type stores or just supermarkets. Same in Europe and Australia.)
Here in Canada, for the past few years, basically every new Petro-Canada station has been built with an A&W inside of it. I assume the restaurant and gas station are separate owners, presumably giving the station owner a guaranteed income from the restaurant lease.
This was recently (the last 10 years I'd say) introduced in Italy as well: we don't like radical changes and therefore didn't take it very well at first, to the point of saying that petrol from grocery stores was worse quality. Nowadays we cannot live without their competitive prices! 😂
Put some EV charging ports for additional customers
Don't forget to diversify fuel types for even more customers. Such as natural gas and perhaps hydrogen pumps.
At my local Wawa there's a Tesla super charger and they have the option for other EVs. The supercharger is always full
My local grocery store that I frequent (Weis Markets) also has a gas station on the property, and I utilize my points earned shopping towards gas every other week. Its a very convenient thing to be able to gas up for a "little cheaper" at the same location I do my food shopping. Its also nice having the convenience of grabbing snacks at a gas station while on a road trip. For those reasons I'm very happy that gas stations have markets and supermarkets have gas stations
4:41 is the "g" in "Cigarettes" bothering anybody else? 😂
I’m Massachusetts Cumberland farm (voted the states favorite gas station) just made their coffee options really cheap and basically the same quality as Dunkin’ & I know so many people who go in just for coffee, then buy food, and of course gas when needed. The coffee market is definitely something they should keep investing in because we all know how the wait at coffee shops has gotten 😩
Here in the US, unless there is a massive overhaul of the electrical grid, then don't expect EV's to overtake gas cars within the next ten-twenty years. The existing infrastructure won't support it; in many areas & cities, the electrical grid is already struggling to keep up, nevermind potentially doubling/tripling the draw on the system with tens of thousands of EV's.
So don't expect these gas stations to just disappear any time soon.
Ive said this. Not to mention who is going to buy everyone new cars? And then theres the insurance hike for having a new or newer car
@@savage.4.24 Yep, gas cars are here to stay for the foreseeable future. there will be a long transitional period however. First step will be raising the miles per gallon. This will force buyers to have hybrid cars or small compact vehicles with more range. The next step will be to dramatically improve battery range with grid and recharging stations. In total, I believe it will take about 25 to thirty years before gas powered cars are mostly phased out.👶
@@hackman669 at least that will be good for usa car makers. They probably will be the only ones left making ice cars then in a couple of years.
Funny, here in Atlanta my generation calls one of our more popular gas stations "Club Quick Trip" best gas prices, best food, congregation area for the bike clubs, car clubs, nightclub hoppers, and young folks just looking for a place to hangout. You can always counter on QT to be buzzing after 7pm. And QT loves it. Even first responders choose to take there breaks there.
The gas station near my house recently got torn down to build a mega gas station. And two more in my town. This video is perfectly timed for how many gas stations are being rebuilt as mega gas stations.
There was a small family owned gas station in my suburb that would pump the gas for you for the same price as self serve. They really had their market down. People would line up. Unfortunately the owner chose not to replace the underground gas tanks when they were due (very pricey) so he sold the business and it was turned it into an auto body shop. But this was a much appreciated service to me and all the other parents of young kids while it was around.
I miss the full-service stations sometimes. When my children were small I used them when I could because back then you had to leave the car to pay. Taking two little children out of their car seats, possibly waking a sleeping child, and walking to the building with them while dodging cars coming and going could be very stressful. But the alternative of leaving them in the car during a time of frequent carjackings was not something I was comfortable doing either, so I would spend a couple of cents more when I could afford to and skip all of that and getting the fluids checked and windows cleaned at the same time.
As someone from the UK, I would say majority of supermarkets have gas stations attached. Plus nearly all non supermarket gas stations (thinking shell or BP) have convenience stores attached. Is that not too common in the US
It is the same in the US mostly. Oddly we have a couple of 7-11 here (Austin Texas) with no pumps.
There's a chain of grocery stores in the Midwest called hyvee and most of them have gas stations in the parking lot. Also they sell food in the gas station too
Same case in portugal
kind of pointless having supermkts as they are hubs of that im neighbourhood. more of convenience stores + gas stn for us (asia)
Agreed, I don’t remember ever seeing just a fueling station in Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, or Jamaica
My main gas station is a Walmart because pump prices are 20 cents less than national brands and they added additional fuel discounts for their Plus program. So far, I've saved $80 a month on gas compared to major brands current pricing. The idea that there's no loyalty to convenience stores is true to a point, but if a location consistently undercuts major brands , that in itself builds loyalty that will lead to purchases on higher margin products like food and beverages in-store.
2:53 That's a very interesting fact. So when it comes to the chicken and the egg question of gas stations/stores, the store came first, and then the store added on the gas station 2nd! So with that being said, the term "gas station food" doesn't really make much sense when keeping that fact in mind. Good content as usual Cheddar.
Only thing that was missing (that I was waiting) for was the suggestions on how they will modify further over time
Most likely add EV charging stations with natural gas as well.
Most will just become convenience stores. Gas is on the way out and most ev owners only use a charging station 1 or 2 times a year. If at all.
Maybe the "station" will drive up to you while on the road, and you can "shop" that way. This idea brought to you by...futurism.
Before starting here is my guess:
Same reason movie theatres have ever expanding snackbars. The primary product people come there for gives no real profits for the place itself. The company who's gasoline is in the underground tank gives maybe like... a few pennies per gallon back t othe station, so they have to recoup costs some other way.
Exactly, in the movie business the producers and actors get most of the dollars. Then the tax and local communities get their share. The theaters only get a fraction of the prophets.
Where I live, we have movie theaters with arcades as well as snack bars. They're called Cinema City and owned by Cineplex.
some gas stations have always had small grocery/snack shops attached while others have a mechanics shop a close friend of mines dad was a Sunoco Mechanic when we were growing up
Didn't even touch on the fact that in food deserts like where I live, the gas station is the only option beyond driving 20+ miles to get to the "real grocery store"
0:40 commentator: "early gas stations were centred around the automobile"
me: *takes notes
We got you covered
😆Who knew? I had thought early gas stations were centered around horses.
Awesome video as always.
In our township there is a gas station with a retired chef. They custom build certain types of morning and lunch menus (published online) and include regular sandwiches (and fare) for quick purchase.
They do their best at locally sourced but in general it's like having mum or dad make your food for you as you can be very busy for time as everyone knows (time is money)
This station is struggling with trying to convince people not to think of this as "gas station sushi" so to speak but as a gas station with an actual professional kitchen chef (which it is).
If I saw this on a major road I'd be hesitant but since I'm located near it and know the story and details I actually give them a chance over any other Quick Trip gas station with food/gas
some drivers actually are loyal to one station! in australia we don't usually have any driveway service stations, so the very few that we have actually do have some loyal customers. even though we're usually more expensive than other stores nearby, the place i work at has regulars that will come from further away, just bc we fill up and check their oil/etc for them. especially some folks in wheelchairs or otherwise have difficult mobility
When I need gas I go to a gas station. When I need food I go to a supermarket. I've never got the two mixed up!
Same here but sometimes a long drive is necessary. During long drives, stopping at a gas station and picking up snacks is convenient.
I mean, charging cars aren’t fast, could still be a hail mary.
I'm from Detroit and often times gas stations are hang-out areas for two reasons number one it's harder to start beff and shit there and also its a nice area where we can sit around while having all the snacks and drinks in the world while not being bothered by cops too often. 711 is a goat for this.
Double Kwik in KY and VA are expanding rapidly. I remember 10 years ago they barely had a few locations, but they've been adding them like crazy the past few years. They're owned by a local oil company (Childer's Oil). Most people don't even go for gas, they go for the food. :D
As a lifelong Oregonian, it always feels weird to me when I go to a gas station and have to leave my car.
I’m from nj so I can relate 😂
Sheetz is great at this.
Love me some sheetz
Wawa is a unique case. Wawa is first a dairy. They then opened their own gas station to fuel their dairy trucks. Then one of the family members started making sandwiches as a lunch option for the single men who worked for the company. The sandwiches became so popular that married men started purchasing them to bring home for the family... either for dinner or for the family's lunch the next day to ease the burden on their wives. The sandwiches led to their convenience stores or what a New Yorker might call a Bodega. They were always more about the deli and the coffee than they ever were about the shelf stable items on the shelves. And of course, they sold Wawa's own milk and ice cream too and used Wawa made dairy products in their sandwiches, desserts, and drinks. They still do (and have expanded to create a whole line of non-soda beverages that they also sell), although Wawa contracts with local producers far more than it relies on its own cows for milk yield and they do still own two working dairy farms. Alas, zoning law changes means they no longer keep dairy cows or heifers on the actual Wawa Dairy Farm site which makes me sad. It was when Wawa employees started expressing a desire to fill up their own personal vehicles (when having a personal vehicle in the suburbs of Philly, despite pretty awesome public transit became more common place) that Wawa first thought about combining their fleet gas stations with their Convenience stores/Delis. And let it be known that Wawa is FAMILY OWNED. It has locations across Eastern PA, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, D.C., and Florida... every location is still family owned and operated. Roughly 49-50% of the company is owned by Wawa employees through employee stock programs but the company has vowed to remain family-owned with investment and pride from their employees.
I live right near the home of the original Wawa dairy. We take pride in Wawa and all they've done for the communities they impact.
That's curious, here in Argentina we call them service stations and you can't fill your own tank, you're not even allowed to touch the pump. Also the small stores attached to them evolved into small cafés / convenience store hybrids, focused on food that you can eat right there... and meh coffee. Although I have seen some that turned into fully fleshed restaurants. Also supermarkets are everywhere so it's not like competing with them is the best idea.
I work on the road. I stop at gas stations for stuff at least twice a shift. I might be out of the ordinary though haha.
Where I live that is not out of the ordinary at my job at first break the entire job is at the gas station since we start so early.
Heard gas stations dont make much from selling gas so this makes sense
I was FLOORED the first time I went to the Calhoun GA Buc-ee’s.
1 of my country's (Singapore) Shell petrol stations also has a bubble tea shop inside its convenience store, while Caltex has long advertised that its toilets are cleaner than the competition (& are branded 'RefreshRooms'. Uniquely they're also accessed thru the station's convenience store rather than from the back e.g. where the car wash might be, which perhaps gives a greater sense of safety too)
"World's largest convenience store"? Isn't that like saying "world's smallest jumbo jet"? Isn't the point of a convenience store that it's small and only contains the "essentials"? One could argue that the Walmart just off the freeway near me that has electric car chargers is "the world's largest convenience store" if that Buc-ee's counts.
I've lived in Texas for 2.5 years and near a Buc-ee's. The stores are big but it is still a quicker process to run into Buc-ee's than it is to Walmart. I think of it as the same way that I might go to the Dollar General down the road instead of Walmart because between parking and grabbing what I need, sometimes it is just quicker even if Walmart has a slightly better deal on price.
For the youngsters out there, gas stations or service stations used to be able to repair your car. But cars be came too complicated and too many brands which resulted in too many parts to stock. Quick change oil shops and tire stores also took away income from service stations. Owners were not making a lot of money on gas and were losing customers for repairs. So instead of a soda machine, there is a whole store. Now you are lucky if you can put air in your tire or get a quart of oil.
Also modern cars need much fewer services and much less frequent oil change
Air for your tires used to be free. Now you have to pay for that, too.
I enjoyed that. Brought back some good memories...
In Thailand, Petrol stations are becoming little shopping malls. There is convenient store, pharmacy, clothing stores, fast foods, and full-service restaurants.
Just ad EV-Chargers to those huge stores. EV owners tend to stick around longer then Gas customers and most of them go into the shop. Such a no Brainer. Gas stations need to transform to Travel/Energy stations. It's like everybody is now talking about the accelerator pedal in the car - it used to be called gas-pedal. But EVs don't have Gas.
With an ev you rarely will be going near a gas station, or charging station.
Most ev owners only use them 1 or 2 times a year if at all.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 current EV owners are the ones with single family homes and at home or work charging abilities. People which don't have home charging 30% of the population don't buy EVs. So the market view is skewed. There is still a large customer group which is not served - which are not yet buying EVs - Hen Egg problem.
I no longer own anything that requires gas. Only when we travel do I use Superchargers, which currently are less likely to be located at a convenience store/gas station, though it is not uncommon, either.
When I do supercharge, I'm at the location for 20-40 minutes, so venues less oriented to quick in-and-out are desirable, as well.
These EV people are the new air fryer people
@@lameowizard "These EV people" are growing over 50%/year. All evidence is that ICE is well past peak sales worldwide, chip shortage or no.
@@mrhickman53 Yea, it's the 'future'. LOL.
Past 3 years I've been doing deliveries for a couple different companies(FEDEX currently). Twice Daily's in the Nashville area have THE CLEANEST bathrooms in town, like they're cleaner than my own bathroom lol. That chain of stores has gotten A LOT of business from me buying coffee/various forms of caffeine from them. I had to check myself after a while limit it to $6-8/2 purchases a week lol.
I guess everyone forgot that gas stations were originally general stores in most rural communities….
Been driving for almost 15 years. Other than Wawa (because I love Wawa and don't have it in my state, so I make an exception) I never ever do anything but pump gas at a gas station. I would be hesitant to eat food from a gas station that wasn't something prepackaged.
It’d be nice to see more Main Street Markets like the ones out in TX. Grocery store, hardware store, car parts store, fuel, truck diesel and parking, showers, restaurants, all in one location. They’ve got it figured out.
Mom and pop gas stations in rural Minnesota routinely had grocery stores as part of them since the time I was 3 years old, 70 years ago.
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star has the magic touch. Perfect for all of my drives, quality gas, great food, solid rewards program although it could be more generous in how many visits it takes for said reward, and to cap it all of it always has a reliable clean bathroom.
even now in New Jersey, you don't always see gas stations and convenience stores together.... a few years ago, i was an Uber driver in NJ; a young couple from Virginia sat in my car and asked me to take them to a gas station; my GPS took us to what was literally 2 pumps from the 50s on the side of the road.... i pointed and said "here, this is gas station, what you want to do?"; then they started speaking about chips and snacks and i realized they meant 'convenience store' and so i took them to a 7-eleven (which did not have a gas station attached!)
Maverik is the best gas station chain around here, and they have some pretty good food. Most of the newer stores have the Bonfire Grill kitchen, which turns out some awesome breakfast burritos.
One of the very few things I'll miss from here.
yea near me its qt and racetrac and they both have full kitchens that make everything almost pizzas hamburgers, milkshakes all kinds of stuff i see people going to get, i tried a few and was surprised how good they are some better than a few fast food places
Interesting, I'm from the UK but as I'm sure that perspective has been offered I'll tell you about petrol stations here in Indonesia. Almost all of them are subsidized so the price is affordable. Most people queue up for a while to get filled up because of the population density. Almost ever village now has a kinda mini petrol station for filling up just one car at a time or a couple of motorbikes. Also the companies sell gas pumps to install in front of little mom and pop stores to replace the 1 liter bottles of old (although they're still everywhere.) Unlike Thailand we don't have major convenience stores like 7-11 in petrol stations, but there's usually a crappy local store which sells the bare minimum of drinks snacks and cigarettes also. On the highway the gas stations will also have toilets and prayer rooms. My local place is actually a Pertamini (single pump station) you should look them up, adorable little mini gas station.
In the rural areas of Virginia and I guess other places, gas was sold at country stores.(my grand parents added gas after WWII) so in a way it has come full circle.
Gas Station 24/7 Mini Shops are So Welcome in Places where the Local Supermarkets are located quite far away & their checkout queues are usually quite long during the weekends! Thank Goodness for these Convenient 24/7 Mini Shops! 🌷🌿
I work in outside sales and I'm on the road 5 days a week. I stop at gas stations almost every day to use the restroom and to pick up something. Coffee, rockstar's, water, snacks, food, ice, etc. I've been to the gas station closest to my home hundreds of times and I think I've only purchased gas there twice. Their gas prices are higher but they have good deals on everything else inside the store.
ua-cam.com/video/r0fd6CLnLCM/v-deo.htmlsi=cJ9IYfqmyqE970N9 secret Harvard project for women and lesbian and Barbie free franchise pink gas station
I live in Sarasota and drive by that Roberts gas station all the time. Thanks. I will have to check it out. It’s in the Amish-Mennonite area.
In Gunnison, Colorado, there is a happening local bar at one of the gas stations.
Feels like every major stores in the US are like supermarkets, CVS, Walgreens, gas stations.
I miss the full service neighborhood gas stations that had a mechanic on duty into the late evening. It was pretty common to have a neighbor work there part-time in addition to their union factory job. Now the small towns have been bypassed with highway expansion, and these stations are no more. Today's kids will have no idea what it was like.
Kwik Trip has been gas/convenience store King in the WI MN IL areas for many years I remember walking to the 1st one in Eau Claire to get Soda Pop in the early 80s now they are everywhere
Those commercials have great songs, omg
Just moved out west from Miami to Phoenix never seen so many Circle K’s in my life! never knew it existed and “Quick Trips”
Kwik trip in Wisconsin is an amazing gas station chain.
omg the picture that you used as an example of lots of gas stations close together is in my town
I believe The Dollar General Stores I see popping up everywhere all around me(7 near my house) are going to be the future EV Charging Stores/Stations... I have said this for years since they first started popping up, people asked "why do they want to put so many in a rural town like ours?? I said because it takes 30+ minutes to charge enough to drive you will go in there and leave your car charging and do your browsing.. I'm not sure about how much it'll cost but its USA everything costs my grandpa predicted "one day you will pay for water in a bottle, and air and people will buy it" as a kid I thought it sounded crazy but only a few years later our gas stations got "bottled water"(we're in the rural south it hasn't been sold here forever) and now today no one drinks from faucets unless they're rich because our water can kill you but bottled water is clean.. also we pay to purify our air now because of all the pollutants, which gave me COPD(I have never ever not even once in my life smoked and I never liked getting around it, my doctor says it's probably the pollution I breath daily)
I love some of these old commercial lol