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               With gas prices climbing up, you may think station owners are getting greedy. But the economics behind the pump tell a different story. by Zachary Crockett.
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                <a style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 100%; text-decoration: none;">
                 The Hustle
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                Issue #175
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                 <img alt="The Hustle, Sunday, September 12, 2021" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-header_20210912005205.gif/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; display: block;" width="600"/>
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                Sunday, September 12, 2021
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           <td style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <h2 style="font-size: 30px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 25px;">
             <strong>
              Why most gas stations don’t make money from selling gas
             </strong>
            </h2>
            <p style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 120%; padding-bottom: 10px; font-style: italic; color: #737373; margin: 0;">
             With gas prices climbing up, you may think station owners are getting greedy. But the economics behind the pump tell a different story.
            </p>
            <p style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 120%; padding-bottom: 24px; margin: 0;">
             <strong>
              BY
              <a style="color: #D62829; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">
               Zachary Crockett
              </a>
             </strong>
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             America is a nation of gas guzzlers.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Over the past 20 years:
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              The total number of miles we drive has
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                gone up by
               </u>
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                <strong>
                 ~20%
                </strong>
               </u>
              </a>
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              SUV sales have
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                <strong>
                 doubled
                </strong>
               </u>
              </a>
              , and now outnumber cars
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              The average household expenditure on gas has
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                risen
               </u>
              </a>
              to
              <strong>
               $250
              </strong>
              per month
             </li>
            </ul>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In a rough and tumble 2020, gas stations in the US still managed to sell
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               <strong>
                123B
               </strong>
              </u>
             </a>
             gallons of fuel — enough to fill
             <strong>
              187k
             </strong>
             Olympic-size swimming pools.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             With
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               average gas prices
              </u>
             </a>
             at a 6-year high, you might think station owners are rolling in the dough.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But the business model of gas stations is a bit counterintuitive.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Most gas stations barely turn a profit on their core product, and when the price of oil goes up they may even take a loss on it.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Battling small margins, cutthroat competition, and the looming threat of electric vehicles, many gas stations are more reliant than ever on secondary revenue streams.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              Who owns gas stations?
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Looking at those big signs along the freeway — Shell, 76, Chevron, ExxonMobil — it may seem like gas stations are all owned by big oil companies.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In reality, the majority of owners are
             <strong>
              individual operators
             </strong>
             who only own a single station.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-individuals_20210912005326.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             These owners fall into 2 main camps:
            </p>
            <ol style="font-size: 16px;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Franchisees
              </strong>
              who pay name-brand gas refineries royalties (anywhere from 3% to 14% of revenue) to use their branding
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Independent operators
              </strong>
              who run generic “
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                no-name
               </u>
              </a>
              ” stations and buy gas on the open market
             </li>
            </ol>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Most major oil companies have backed out of the retail business because selling gas generally
             <strong>
              isn’t
             </strong>
             <strong>
              very profitable
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             According to IBISWorld, gas stations make an average margin of just
             <strong>
              1.4%
             </strong>
             on their fuel.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             That’s far lower than the 7.7% average across all industries — and ranks
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               beneath
              </u>
             </a>
             other notoriously low margin businesses like grocery stores (2.5%) and car dealerships (3.2%).
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             To understand why, let’s step back and take a look at the typical supply chain of gasoline.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              The profit pipeline
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Gasoline begins its journey as crude oil, largely
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               sourced
              </u>
             </a>
             on home soil in states like Texas and North Dakota.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Once extracted from oil fields, this raw liquid is:
            </p>
            <ol style="font-size: 16px;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              Sent to
              <strong>
               refineries
              </strong>
              to be processed into gasoline
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              Funneled via pipeline into
              <strong>
               bulk storage containers
              </strong>
              , and
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Transported
              </strong>
              via freight trucks to gas stations, where it’s kept in 20k-gallon underground drums
             </li>
            </ol>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             By the time gas reaches the pump, the profit potential is pretty dismal.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Let’s say you buy one gallon of gas at your local station for
             <strong>
              $3.18
             </strong>
             (the current
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               national average
              </u>
             </a>
             ).
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Here’s a rough breakdown of where that money goes:
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-breakdown_20210912005435.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Gas stations typically only receive a fraction of the price listed on the sign. And after factoring in overhead — labor, utilities, insurance, credit card transaction fees — the
             <strong>
              average profit is winnowed down to ~$0.05 to $0.07 per gallon
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Now, there is a
             <em>
              lot
             </em>
             of variance here: Some owners
             <em>
              The Hustle
             </em>
             spoke to claim to make $0.30+/gallon; others, as little as $0.01.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But assuming daily
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               sales
              </u>
             </a>
             of
             <strong>
              4k gallons
             </strong>
             at $0.05/gallon, your typical station might only bring home
             <strong>
              $200-300/day
             </strong>
             from gas.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             By contrast, those coin-operated air machines you find at most stations can
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               rake in
              </u>
             </a>
             $300 to $500 in profit per month — even after paying the companies that lease them out.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Why don’t stations just raise their prices?
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             For starters, gas stations know that the
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               majority
              </u>
             </a>
             of consumers choose where to go solely based on
             <strong>
              price
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             They have an incentive to keep those numbers on the board as constant as possible.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             And even if they didn’t,
             <strong>
              local competition
             </strong>
             keeps them in check: The best locations — high-traffic freeway exits and on-ramps — are often packed with clusters of stations that jockey for business.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-clusters_20210912005543.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             A misconception is that gas station owners
             <em>
              love
             </em>
             when gas prices go up.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In reality, they hate it as much as you do — largely because competition creates something of a pricing Catch-22:
            </p>
            <ol style="font-size: 16px;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              When wholesale gas costs
              <strong>
               go
              </strong>
              <strong>
               up
              </strong>
              , many station owners would rather keep prices steady and take a loss than hemorrhage customers to competitors.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              When wholesale costs
              <strong>
               fall
              </strong>
              , many gas stations are
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                wary
               </u>
              </a>
              of slashing their prices for fear of sparking a price war.
             </li>
            </ol>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Luckily, most gas stations don’t care much about gas profits.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              The real money is made
             </strong>
             <em>
              <strong>
               inside
              </strong>
             </em>
             <strong>
              the store
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Today,
             <strong>
              80%
             </strong>
             of all gas stations
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               have
              </u>
             </a>
             a convenience store on site.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The goods inside these stores — Doritos, sunglasses, lotto tickets, energy drinks — only account for ~30% of the average gas station’s revenue, yet bring in
             <strong>
              70% of the profit
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             According to a
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               study
              </u>
             </a>
             conducted by the National Association of Convenience Stores,
             <strong>
              44%
             </strong>
             of gas station customers go inside. And among them,
             <strong>
              1 in 3
             </strong>
             ends up indulging in some kind of treat.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In contrast to fuel, the goods inside these stores can reel in average profit margins of
             <strong>
              30%+
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Some items post
             <em>
              much
             </em>
             higher figures:
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-profits_20210912005616.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Some forces are working against this business model.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Most modern pumps have card readers, negating the need to go inside to pay. The
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               average time
              </u>
             </a>
             a customer spends at a gas station is now just
             <strong>
              2-3 minutes
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Convenience stores also have some of the
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               <strong>
                highest crime rates
               </strong>
              </u>
             </a>
             of any business in America, with average annual losses to robberies topping $761 per location.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But stations have a bigger concern: The long-term future of gas.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              The gas station of tomorrow
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Gas stations have been in decline for several decades.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In 1995, there were
             <strong>
              ~195k
             </strong>
             of them in the US; today, that number is down to
             <strong>
              ~115k
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-decline_20210912005655.gif/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Among the major
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               contributors
              </u>
             </a>
             to this trend:
            </p>
            <ol style="font-size: 16px;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Natural gas
              </strong>
              is getting cheaper and more popular
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Electric vehicles (EVs) and driverless cars
              </strong>
              pose a long-term threat to gas sales
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <strong>
               Real estate
              </strong>
              in urban areas (NYC, DC, San Francisco, Boston) can be utilized for more profitable endeavors, like condos or office developments
             </li>
            </ol>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Many stations have made the costly decision to
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               install
              </u>
             </a>
             EV charging units, which can cost $100k a pop.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             It’s a hard cost to justify, given that EVs currently make up
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               &lt;1%
              </u>
             </a>
             of cars on the road. But the industry is experiencing a rapid rise:
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               4 in 10
              </u>
             </a>
             consumers say they’d consider buying an EV for their next car, and stand-alone EV stations are
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               popping up
              </u>
             </a>
             all over the country to serve them.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             EV-agnostic stations — and smaller operations that can’t afford the preemptive expense — risk getting left behind in the long term.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-EVsales_20210912005737.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mPNvE:WbMl8zeAaMJbfD7-1g9RTqRCiKfG0S7by-jyrULJa9s" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But if all else fails, gas stations always have a secret financial weapon in their back pocket: Those mesmerizing
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               rotating hot dog machines
              </u>
             </a>
             .
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td bgcolor="#ececec" style="background-color: #ececec; color: #3e3e3e; padding: 15px 15px 5px;">
            <p style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 12px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              BONUS FACTS:
             </strong>
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0;">
              <strong>
               What’s up with that 9/10ths of a penny thing?
              </strong>
              Almost a century ago, when gas was just $0.15/gallon, the government levied a gas tax of a
              <u>
               fraction of a cent
              </u>
              . It’s irrelevant today, but station owners have kept it around because it makes prices look marginally better.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0;">
              <strong>
               Explosions don’t just happen in the bathrooms
              </strong>
              . On average,
              <u>
               ~4.2k fires
              </u>
              break out at gas stations around the country each year, causing $30m in property damage. Most of them are caused by cars. A few are caused by hot dog machines.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0;">
              <strong>
               Speaking of bathrooms…
              </strong>
              a nice toilet can drive a gas station’s sales. According to one
              <u>
               survey
              </u>
              , 22.6% of customers who use a bathroom report “frequently” making an impulse purchase on the way out.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding: 4px 0;">
              <strong>
               KFC started at a gas station
              </strong>
              . Colonel (Harland) Sanders whipped up his first fried chicken plate in the 1930s while
              <u>
               running
              </u>
              a gas station in North Corbin, Kentucky.
             </li>
            </ul>
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