Here we have the Tale of Two Stations. Each is located on the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Street in Costa Mesa. This intersection is immediately south of the 405 Freeway, and the stations are diagonally across from each other.
This intersection is on one of my daily walking routes, especially if I’m low on Tajin Chamoy hot sauce, as it’s only locally available a few miles further south along Harbor at the Mercado Mexican market.
I’ve always marveled at the huge difference in prices at each of these gas stations. Let’s compare apples to apples. In California it’s common for stations to display two prices, one for cash or that brand’s credit card, and a higher price for any other credit card. Of course this is a ploy for one to get that brand’s credit card. Nobody besides day laborers paid under the table carry enough cash to fill a gas tank.
If a station only displays one price schedule, the hope is that it applies to cash or credit, but that’s not a guarantee. So, let’s take regular grade (87 octane here). The Arco is offering it for $4.50 a gallon for credit card. Chevron, if the only price shown is for credit, wants $4.90.
Chevron is regarded as a more premium brand than Arco, but still, that’s a big difference, especially on the same intersection. Why the difference?
Location. The Arco is on the exit side of the street from the 405, and is next to an In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is always busy, and almost always has a long line at the drive-through. So there is a constant cloud of traffic around the Arco station with burger buyers fighting for the same driveways. And, if one was low on gas headed down the 405 and wanted to quickly exit the freeway to fill up, the traffic pattern doesn’t offer a convenient route back onto the 405.
The Chevron on the other hand, is more ideally located. Exiting the driveway from the station puts a driver directly onto the path to either the South or North on-ramps to the 405.
That’s quite a premium to pay for convenience.
