Sumner Shortcuts

The cheapest gas in Sumner County has been sitting at $3.86 for some time now.

And a pair of Hendersonville gas stations at 31E and Center Point Road have consistently been selling regular unleaded at that price:  the new-ish Mapco station and the long-standing Dodge’s Store.

Today I noticed that, not even a half mile down the road toward Hendersonville (yes, I watched my odometer ’cause I’m a nerd… sue me), there is an Exxon station at 31E and Rockland Road (right in front of some apartment complexes and next to the Waffle House).  And their gas is $3.99 a gallon for unleaded.

So… what’s up with that?

Certainly, if they want to sell gas for that much higher than their very nearby competition… that’s their prerogative.  But I’m looking for the underlying reason why.

I think it’s because they’re so close to a major interchange with Vietnam Veterans… Exit 3.  I think they’re banking on catching the folks who want to grab gas and then jump immediately on Vietnam Vets and go.

But if those same folks knew that their gas would be $0.13 cheaper per gallon (saving as much as $2 or more per fill-up) just 4/10ths of a mile down the road… would they still buy Exxon’s gas?  ‘Cause it seems pretty silly to pay $2.00 more for a full tank of gas than you have to.  And I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone’s paying $3.99 for gas in this part of town.

This same Exxon, for a short time a few months ago, had signs up stating that you couldn’t use a credit card on purchases totaling less than $5.00… so I know they’re having issues with the credit card fees they’re having to pay.  So it’s possible, at least in theory, that Exxon’s trying to make up some of those credit card fees by selling the gas at a higher per-gallon price–something a lot of gas stations are doing around the country.  But I can’t be sure.

What I can be sure of, is that you won’t see me buying any gas there at Exxon as long as this strange price disparity continues.

Anyone got any ideas?