Gas Station Manager Feels Pinch of Prices
By Darrell Hughes, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Jun. 11–Editor’s note: This is part of the weekly "Take Five" series of Q & As that gives you a glimpse at what it’s like working in various fields along the Grand Strand and introduces you to the people doing the work.
Kasim Safa defines himself as a businessman who does "whatever it takes to make something work."
Safa, manager of an independent gas station and convenience store, acknowledges that operating a fuel station is a test of will as the surging cost of gas pinches his bottom line more than ever.
"Let’s put it this way, we haven’t started to see a profit from this place yet," he said. "We’re still in the hole."
Safa manages the gas station, Phoenixx Mart
, 1250 U.S. 501, that his father, Mike, purchased four years ago.
The Safas owned a restaurant on Ocean Boulevard for roughly two decades. They sold it four years ago.
"After we sold the restaurant, we needed to find something else to do," the 33-year-old son said.
Taking into consideration Hard Rock Park and The Market Common, Safa said the U.S. 501 property was prime because of the potential traffic from the theme park and the retail and housing development.
"The only problem was there was a gas station on it," he said, later adding, "We really didn’t know anything about the gas station business. We’re walking in as restaurant people so we had to learn hands on. There was a lot of trial and error in the beginning. We went down and we went up."
Question — How is business?
Answer — Four years ago when we opened, a load of gas cost about $10,000 to $12,000. You buy a load of gas today, you’re looking probably at about $30,000.
Keep in mind that four years ago you’re making 10 cents on the gallon — if you’re lucky. You’re still making 10 cents on the gallon today and you’re paying three times the amount for the load of gas. And you’re still making the exact same on each gallon.
Q. — How is the business staying afloat?
A. — We have inside sales. The whole thing about a convenience store is people don’t like to stand in line at Wal-Mart.
People don’t want to go to the Food Lion and have to find parking and walk in … You end up charging a little bit more for a candy bar or a soda, but it’s convenient and people have to put gas in their cars. And here, you do make a little money on the inside, which makes up for some of the gas. But still, it’s not enough.
Q. — How is it being an independent gas station?
A. — It gives you a little more freedom. When you’re independent, you can shop for the gas you want. I usually try to keep my gas the least expensive. There are so many different gas companies out there and at any given day, if you need a load of gas, you can pick up the phone and say ‘I want to buy from Hess, or I want to buy from Exxon, or I want to buy from Southern Gas.’ You’re not obligated in a contract to buy just from Texaco or just from Mobile. Now whatever their price is for that day is what you’re going to pay for that load of gas. So it gives you a little more freedom to shop around — if you’re the kind of person that watches the market and you see when it’s going up and when it’s going down. And you buy when it’s down — and you pass those savings along to the consumer.
Q. — With surging gas prices, how much does competition hurt your profits?
A. — When it comes to gas, we drop our price just a little bit to stay competitive because we’re not a name brand — or people at least don’t see the name brand. The gas that’s in the ground, it comes from one of the major oil companies, but I’m not allowed to use their names.
Q. — What are some of the major concerns you hear from customers about paying for gas?
A. — I don’t think my customers get the impression that we make more money when the gas prices go up. I think most of them understand that it’s the big oil companies. You hear them say ‘What’s going on with the gas prices? I’m going to buy a bike soon.’ You hear those little comments. But other than that, nobody’s coming in here really disgruntled because when you walk into a place and you see the people who own it are standing there, day in and day out, working seven days a week, I think people realize … this pretty much consumes my life.
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ONLINE Read more of the interview with gas station manager Kasim Safa in the Online Extras section at MyrtleBeachOnline.com.
Contact DARRELL HUGHES at 626-0364.
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