Gas retailers squeezed by high prices, too

In a sign that it is not just consumers who are feeling the pinch from record-high gasoline prices, the owners of at least two area gas stations have shut down their businesses in recent weeks.

The operators of two independently owned, full-service stations, United in Halifax, and Trojan Gas in Brockton, both cited the surge in gas prices as their reasons for closing. United closed Aug. 26, and Trojan last Friday.

Quincy Gas, meanwhile, shut down its pumps earlier last month, according to Harvey Kertzman, owner of the independent, full-service station. He said it was complaints about high prices that prompted the decision. Though it no longer sells gas, the station remains open to sell cigarettes and to operate its Budget vehicle rental business.

The moves may be temporary. United expects to reopen when prices come down, while Trojan Gas is considering seeking to reopen as a self-serve operation, according to the owners. Kertzman said he would reactivate his gas business in Quincy if prices drop.

''We just can't survive if we leave it open," Stephanie Davis, who with her husband, Stephen Davis, has owned and run United for the past five years. Their separate adjoining business, Davis Automotive, will remain open.

''It's the little independent guys that own one station, the mom-and-pop gas stations, that are really feeling the squeeze," she said.

Paul O'Connell, executive director of the New England Service Station and Automotive Repair Association, said he has heard of two or three recent closings of independent gas stations, all for similar reasons.

''They don't want to continue raising prices for their customers, or they don't have the cash to purchase fuel, because it's upwards of $3.50 per gallon for them to buy and then resell," he said. ''Some people just make the conscious decision to either stop selling temporarily, or to go out of business entirely because they are not selling enough volume and it doesn't make sense [to remain open] with the overhead cost of selling gasoline."

Stephanie Davis said she and her husband had been thinking of closing their Route 106 station for the last couple months in light of the escalating prices. They decided to act when Hurricane Katrina hit and they knew that the price of gasoline, which at their station that day was $2.67 per gallon, was likely to climb past $3.

While they could have raised prices too, Davis said, the higher costs would have further reduced the volume of their business. The station, which has struggled to compete with a self-service station across the street, Davis said, already had seen its gas sales fall from 3,000 to 1,000 gallons a day amid the summer's rising prices.

With a profit margin of as low as 3 cents per gallon -- taking into account what they pay their distributor for the fuel, and other costs such as delivery fees, credit card fees, and labor -- their take for a day can be as low as $30.

''The repair shop had been carrying the gas business for the last six months, but we just can't afford to do that," she said.

Davis said the family needs to eventually reopen the station because it owes a mortgage on the property. In the meantime, she said, she feels for the four employees that she had to lay off, and for the customers who relied on United, one of only three gas stations in town and the only full-service operation.

''A lot of people have been calling, wondering how they are going to get their gas, and if we are going to reopen," she said.

Juan Palomo, spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, said he is not aware of any trend involving gas stations going out of business.

''Obviously, this is a difficult time for everybody, particularly after what happened along the Gulf Coast. But gas prices were going up before that because of the high cost of crude oil -- that is the largest component of the price of a gallon of gas, right behind state and federal taxes," he said.

Sharon and Steven Trojano, who ran Trojan Gas for the past 16 years, had been toying with the idea of closing the station for the past year ''because we weren't making money at all," Sharon Trojano said.

''We are trying to compete with self-service stations," including a Mobil station across the street, she said. ''If they are a penny cheaper, everyone is going to go there."

Even if they were able to sell at the same price, she said, her station was at a disadvantage because of the cost of paying people to pump gas. ''You need to pump a lot of gas to pay bills even if you are making 5 or 10 cents a gallon," she said.

Trojano said that as prices skyrocketed, the station's business fell, ''and it was almost costing us to keep it open. We decided to just let [the gas tank] run out and not call to schedule another delivery."

When the tank ran out Friday morning -- and with the price at $3.36 9/10 per gallon -- the station closed, and the Trojanos laid off eight employees.

Sharon Trojano said the family is exploring the possibility of filing for the permits needed to reopen as a self-service station, anticipating that the procedure could take three to four months.

Kertzman has owned and operated his Quincy Avenue station since 1978. The business continues a family tradition that stretches back to 1918: Both his father and grandfather previously ran stations along the avenue.

He said he closed his gas business because ''I just got tired of listening to the digs, the complaints, the psychological battering that the attendants get" over high gas prices.

''The customers don't mean to be nasty. They're in dire straits, they don't have the money. Who are they going to complain to, other than the person pumping their gas?

''You can only take so many thousands of complaints. I just can't do it anymore," he said. Now, ''I can sleep at night. I don't have to see people with tears in their eyes when I go to bed."

Kertzman said he would resume gas sales if there is a steady drop in prices over the next month or two.

''If my customers are happy, I'll reopen," he said.