Station jacks up gas prices in protest; Dealer says tactics used by Shell are unfair to operators

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

It has become almost a regular stop for San Francisco tourists. Once they've seen the Golden Gate Bridge and the Transamerica Pyramid, they can drive down Harrison Street to see the most amazing sight of all.

Regular gas for $4 a gallon.

Actually, it is higher than that. At Bob Oyster's Shell station at Sixth and Harrison, regular is $4.33 a gallon, plus is $4.43, and "V-Power'' is $4.53. Motorists can be seen rolling their eyes as they drive by. Just another example of a greedy station owner, sticking his customers for all they are worth?

Not really.

There's a much deeper story here, and it begins with Oyster, a respected, self-made businessman who turned a single station into Oyster Petroleum, a profitable firm in Redwood City. Oyster is nobody's fool. Don't think he isn't well aware that the Chevron station across the street is selling regular for 70 cents less.

Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/10/NEVIUS.TMP

[bananas]

1. Wow, interesting story.

Thanks.

[I Have A Dream]

2. K&R. nt

[apnu]

3. My father-in-law's cousin owned a station...

... and had the same problem and similar results. Big Oil limited where he could buy his gas, gouged him on the wholesale level. Kept his profit margin razor thin and eventually after running the station for decades, he went out of business and sold the shop to the company. Now they run it and dropped the gas prices below what they forced him sell at.

He's pissed off to say the least. But happy that he doesn't have the headache of running the station. He can focus on his true professional love -- fixing cars. Got a nice job at a dealership, just clocks in, fixes stuff and clocks out. Doesn't have any professional stress now, he likes that.

[Epiphany4z]

6. we have 2 stations in town

or had...the one stopped selling gas for the same reason..now he only does repair work ..no gas.

[AndyA]

4. Here in Tulsa, a long time Texaco station owner had problems when

the company became Texaco-Shell, or Shell-Texaco, whatever the hell it is.

The Texaco was a full service station, in business for decades, and had a very good reputation for doing good work at reasonable prices. When Shell and Texaco merged, he was forced to change his station over to Shell. Apparently problems developed, because shortly after the black/gray/red theme of Texaco was switched over to the yellow/red theme of Shell, the station closed.

So now there's a shiny new Shell station sitting at a busy intersection all closed down.

I heard the owner didn't like Shell's business practices, so he let them spend a fortune redoing the station, and as soon as it was finished, he shut it down!

It does make a statement about Shell. Plus, we have the remains of several former Texaco stations sitting around, which are a blight on the community. Until Shell cleans up its act, I will not do business with them, and this story makes me more certain I've made the right decision.

I quit using their gas a few years back anyway, as my cars seem to run better on local brands vs. Shell.

[Demlobos06]

5. Don't forget Shell's deeds in Nigeria

Shell is a prime example of corporate greed. It has destroyed villages in Nigeria for nearly 50 years as it pumps the light sweet crude from the ground while completely destroying the lands. People have been slaughtered and Shell has those peoples blood on their hands. This is why there is a rise in kidnappings of oil workers because they are tired of being exploited and murdered if they resist.

[evilkumquat]

7. Locally, We Had Several Stations Close But Not For High Rents:

A few years ago, due to ecological requirements, several local gas stations closed because the owners could not afford to pay for modernizing their underground tanks to meet new pollution-control standards.

Of course, they had YEARS in which to plan for this; many did not.

One of those that closed has now become a cigarette store, so did karma win or not with that one?

Evil Kumquat

[NashVegas]

8. This Has Been Going On For a Few Years Now

It seems like I came across a story two years ago that Chevron was planning to 'buy out' or close its outlets that were owned by independent businessmen, and others were following suit.

[RexDart]

10. Maybe time to break 'em up.

Back in the late 1940's, movie studios divested theatre ownership through a consent decree with the government. Maybe that's something to try here. You can refine gas, or sell it, but not both. I know that will never happen, but it's nice to dream.

[anotherdrew]

9. long past time to run Shell the hell out of business

boycott.