As the price of gasoline rises, many gas station owners say they're being priced nearly out of business.
"The prices go up and our margin either stays the same or shrinks," said Sam Mousa, who, until last month, was running two gas stations in Salem.
On Feb. 5, Mousa shuttered the Sunoco station at the corner of Routes 28 and 97. He had run it since 1988. He still owns an ExxonMobil station on Route 28.
Mousa dumped the Sunoco station because of the rent he was paying the Sunoco corporation. He offered to buy the station and operate it independently, but Sunoco wasn't interested, he said.
"They just decided they'd rather shut down the property than give me a break on my rent," Mousa said.
But even those who own their gas stations free and clear are struggling.
"A lot of these small businesses, they can't afford to buy the stuff anymore," said Jim Massahos, owner of R&J Getty on Main Street in Salem.
Despite skyrocketing gas prices, individual stations operate with only a tiny profit margin at the pump, local owners said.
The profit, when there is one, comes from selling items such as cigarettes and bottled water in attached convenience stores.
And, based on state figures, the number of gas stations in New Hampshire has been declining for more than a decade.
This year, 1,201 facilities in the Granite State hold licenses for underground diesel and gasoline storage tanks, according to Jim Martin of the state Department of Environmental Services.
Ten years ago, nearly twice that number, or 2,083, held licenses, according to Martin. A decade before that, in 1988, there were 5,093 licenses.
Not all gas stations hold underground storage licenses — some store fuel above ground — and the numbers are not an exact reflection of the total number of gas stations in New Hampshire, Martin cautioned. Despite that, he said, the figures might reflect an overall trend.
Rashid Sucar, who has owned Oasis Gas and Mini Mart in Windham for four years, said Friday that he was actually losing 3 cents a gallon on most gas purchases.
Sucar's profit margin on gasoline Friday was only 4 cents, but credit card companies charge a 7 cent per-gallon transaction fee. That meant, at yesterday's prices, Sucar was losing money every time a customer used a credit card.
"I'll be honest with you," Sucar said. "This is the worst time (to be running a gas station)."
Two years ago, Sucar opened a pizza parlor in his convenience store — Charley's Kabob & Pizzeria. The pizza parlor and the store keep his business afloat, he said.
Jeanne Butler, a commercial real estate agent with Prudential Verani in Londonderry, said gas stations aren't yet difficult to sell — as long as they come with a convenience store and a solid agreement with a major gasoline distributor.
"Most of the income or profit is made inside (the store)," she said.
In fact, Butler said, gas stations with auto repair shops often aren't as profitable. That's because most auto shops buy their gas independently and end up paying more than their competitors.
That's something Massahos, of R&J Getty in Salem, can attest to.
On a good day, Massahos only makes 6 or 7 cents a gallon buying Getty gas as an independent dealer. Stations affiliated with a major oil company — like ExxonMobil or Irving — can make up to 12 cents a gallon, he said.
But stations really get hit when the price of gas drops, Massahos said.
If he buys 11,000 gallons of gasoline at $3 a gallon and the next day the price drops to $2.95 a gallon, he has to drop his prices to keep people from going to a competitor, he said.
Tom Duffy, another real estate agent with Prudential Verani, said he was trying to sell an independently owned gas station several years ago, but the owner was across the street from a major distributor.
One day, the independent station was selling gas for $2.50 a gallon, while the corporate station was selling it for $2.47.
"I said, 'Why don't you sell it for $2.47?' and the owner said, 'I can't because I'm buying it at $2.485,'" Duffy said. "The owner said, 'I would be better off running a hose across the street and buying their gas.'"
But even the corporate station might not have been doing so well, based on what Mousa, of Salem, has said.
"When I got into this business (in 1988), we sold gas for somewhere between 75 and 85 cents, and made a 12 to 15 cent margin," he said. "Now, it's 10 cents or less."
And Massahos, whose father owned R&J Getty during the gasoline shortage of the late 1970s, agreed. Gas station owners are much worse off now than they've ever been, he said.
"There's plenty of product out there — there's plenty of product. Someone's making money, but it ain't the dealers," he said.
New Hampshire licenses for underground tanks
1988: 5,093
1998: 2,083
2008: 1,201
Source: N.H. Department of Environmental Services
