The Things I’ve Seen

“I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed.” - Marco Polo on his deathbed, 1324, apparently? Uncharted said so.

“I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain.” Pierre de Fermat, though that was about maths.

New Shell Station

It’s not every day you get to go to a new gas station. It’s also probably never that someone brags about it. But hi! That’s me! I got to do that, and I’m writing about it now. My now is definitely not your now, and some of this will issue will definitely bet written in neither of our nows, but that’s the nature of things. Time is insert your aphorism, but I’m not here to talk about time today—I’m here to talk about new gas stations.

The Soul of a New Fueling Station¹

Fueling stations have a long, fascinating history. We’re not really going to dive into that, but I do recommend J.B. Crawford’s post on forecourt networks. They’re also a bit more involved to open and run than many other retail businesses. Gasoline² is a pretty nasty little petrochemical product that we’ve all just grown accustomed to having around. It’s not just the gasoline, it’s all the additives to keep it stable. It’s a mix of flammable, corrosive, toxic, carcinogenic chemicals, and they can infiltrate the human body through contact, inhalation, and ingestion³ . Burnt gasoline is a significant driver of pollution, and unburnt gasoline that gets past the engine contributes to smog. There’s more, but I think the point is made.

The thing is…it’s really handy! Gasoline makes things go. There isn’t a clear winner in alternatives, either. Electricity is great, if you live in a country like Spain that’s dedicated to clean energy⁴ . You do have to store it for motion “off-grid” though, and current mass-deployed battery technologies are quite volatile and come with their own host of environmental concerns through the supply chain. TANSTAAFL—Their Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Gasoline fills a critical role in our world. It makes things go. It’s got a lot of downsides, but anything that can put that much readily-accessible energy in a portable package is going to have downsides.

How do you address downsides? We live in a society of laws, so, legislation. What impacts can we agree on, and how can we agree to address those? Gas stations are subject to a whole host of environmental regulations and testing. One such set of regulations is Federal UST regulation 40 CFR Part 280, which governs the requirements for owners and operators of Underground Storage Tanks (USTs). Everyone has building codes. Gas station owners have a whole host of other regulations. Tanks must be tested, inspected, and if your property shows signs of petroleum leakage you’re going to have some uncomfortable discussions and more extensive testing. It’s probably something you’ve never thought about, because you don’t have to: that’s one of the things tax dollars pay for⁵ ! We have experts⁶ whose entire job it is to make sure that we are balancing the costs of our choices with the very real, and usually more visible, benefits. It’s often hard to see the broader spectrum, but ask the person whose well is tainted with petroleum products how the improperly maintained gas tank nearby affects them⁷ . Electric battery risks still have a ways to go in regulation, but we can build a world that works for everyone.

From the Dust, A New BP

A new BP⁸ , or even a new gas station in general, might not be something you thought much about. Honestly, gas stations pop up and even I don’t really think about them too much. They’re a pretty incredible feat though. There’s the forecourt design, which I’ve already sent you elsewhere to learn more about. There’s the convenience store, where the actual margins are made⁹ . There’s environmental regulations which have to be obeyed. Every business has a barrier to entry, costs that have to be paid (both fiscal and social) to open. Gas stations are pretty tough!

That being said, most gas stations in the US are franchise operations. One would expect a fair bit of assistance when opening a franchise. I don’t know how these agreements work out, but it seems that franchises don’t get much convenience store assistance. The new BP we’re talking about today took quite a while to open, and once open…was bare.

This is an open convenience store. Empty coolers (which cost money to run), no hot food counter, and half the aisles are devoid of product. Incredible! I had a good chat with the folks working there and heard it would be about 3-4 weeks before the shelves were full. I checked weekly, and it was true! The hot bar took about two months to get operational. These are all sources of revenue that drive the margin a gas station/convenience store makes. It’s wild to me that a new store can open with so little product on the shelves, but also, they had been building this location for the better part of a year. At least the gasoline sales started coming in.

Buc-Ees

Compare this to a Buc-Ees. I was first acquainted with the chain in the past few years in Florida on a trip. These are behemoths, with some having more than 100 gas pumps. The spawn of a Wal-Mart’s sprawl snarled in furious passion with the familiarity of a travel center, the tryst goes back a few decades. The chain started in 1982, though they didn’t get into their travel center phase until 2003, just outside of Austin, Texas. Wikipedia says they began expanding outside of Texas in 2018 with a location in Alabama, leapfrogging Mississippi¹⁰ , which means I wasn’t that late to the party outside of Texas.

They are perhaps most famous for their bathroom cleanliness. I really can’t stress that at some of these locations the bathrooms are just a steady stream of people several hours every day. These are hard-worn facilities, and they still stay clean and in good working order. It’s so well regarded that Cintas awarded them the “Best Restroom in America” award in 2012¹¹ , which was (1) a thing I did not know existed and (2) was pretty wild, honestly, that they haven’t seemed to have won since? They have some stiff competition though, as Cintas rates every bathroom. Maverik was the next gas station to win, in 2024. Every other winner was in some other business category.

The thing about a Buc-Ees is, opening a new one is a whole affair. The store is stocked, chock full of signature Buc-Ees products like their beef brisket, jerky, beaver nuggets…you know if you stop at a Buc-Ees it’s not going to be half-stocked, especially if it’s a grand opening. To put it another way: Buc-Ees is a bastion of cultural imperialism. I started this draft months ago, well before the World Cup came to the United States, and…look, this isn’t about the fracturing of our shared online spaces, but I’ve had a hard time sourcing great social media posts that are publicly visible on the phenomenon. Suffice it to say: have you seen any of the posts on our gas station culture? The German football¹² fan who found a Buc-Ees and enjoyed a smorgasboard of convenience food on a table of feed corn? Buc-Ees might be the last great gasp of American Imperialism¹³ we’ll see for a while.

I’d say more and share pictures, but when I write about the Things I’ve Seen, it’s also an invitation in a way. If it sounds interesting to you and you’re in the area, go see it yourself. Gas station brands are regional, but really everyone needs gas and the limit is the difficulty in opening operations and the intention of the business to grow or not. The Buc-Ees CEO has recently made the bizarre announcement that they plan to open in "conservative, business-friendly states” going forward because they don’t want to be held to legal and ethical standards.

You might think this has something to do with John Oliver, but that doesn’t track: when they cut their gas margins as a loss leader, they were in violation of an Alabama law¹⁴ . They have no problem operating there, and I’d say that’s probably a place they’d consider "conservative” and “business-friendly”. They can’t be everywhere, but it’s an interesting take for a business that is pretty universal (all internal combustion engine vehicles need fuel) to go “but not those customers, because you know, reasons.” In a publicly traded company, senior leadership has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the investors, and “we don’t want to make money, really” seems like it would be a pretty weird way to convince them you’re doing so.

So, you know, I guess they might not want you to see them based on where you get your mail. Or something. Sorry. Don’t worry, there’s always…

Wawa

Wawa started in the Philadelphia area. Wikipedia traces its routes back to a local iron foundry in 1805 but fails to make the jump to a local dairy¹⁵ . Wawa’s site today though starts with their beginnings as a dairy operation in 1902. In any case, we didn’t get to anything resembling the modern day Wawa you should absolutely visit and learn to love until the 1960s.

Until that time, milk delivery was the common path to getting fresh milk anywhere the cow wasn’t closer to you than the Pasteurizing operation was. Raw milk harbors dangerous bacteria, and was a component of the higher rate of childhood mortality until very recent/modern history in industrialized/post-industrialized nations. The benefits of a bottle of certified Wawa milk were well accepted by the locals, but getting it free from bacteria and spoilage was a different challenge from keeping it free from bacteria and spoilage. Getting fresh milk regularly through milk delivery was a way to assure you didn’t have to worry too long about storage. It wasn’t just milk, though: any perishable groceries could be delivered, as long as the route was efficient enough, which means you had more options the more urban an area you lived in. An icebox helped, though it required regular ice deliveries as well. The subscription economy was booming, and time is a circle.

Once household refrigeration became common, delivery was not needed as frequently. Households cut their delivery cost of ice for a one time fixed cost for a refrigerator (plus the electric bill, don’t forget) and got a taste for the habit. What other recurring costs could they cut? There was blood in the capitalist water, and supermarkets lunged. Some would sell milk as a loss leader, to get households in the door. Delivery didn’t die immediately, but it took a big hit when families could take their second car to the supermarket to buy their own groceries which would stay fresher, longer, in the refrigerator they already owned. Wawa, being a regional delivery powerhouse, had to adapt. That’s when they started opening their own convenience stores, small markets that would sell their milk and other staples for the grocery run.

Wawa evolved into a convenience store and fuel operation, going through multiple phases. They started offering coffee and sandwiches, and even in the 90s had a run with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell offerings. They expanded and also contracted, at one point leaving the New York and Connecticut markets because the competition was too stiff and margins are already hard enough for gas stations. Being out-competed and knowing when to cut your financial losses is a tough skill to learn and a tough fact to accept when it happens. Doing so allowed it to become the chain it is today, one that’s employee owned and a great place to stop for sandwiches on a drive if you have the option. I don’t have that option yet, but I’m hoping it will come closer to me soon.

Golden Pantry concept store

I couldn’t wrap this up without mentioning a local staple: the Golden Pantry. Started in 1965, at Five Points in Athens, they were also on the leading edge of the convenience store move and have become a regional fixture. They’re headquartered in the same building where I write many of these posts, which is a pretty neat thing: they’re still relatively speaking local. One thing they’ve started doing just a few years ago is breaking out new concept stores to follow the pack into the future with more fresh food offerings amongst other things.

Yeah, it looks pretty Quiktrip , but there’s a few nice touches that elevate it just a bit. I haven’t been to another location that they’ve built a new one, and this has been around a few years so they’re due. It would be great to see more in the wild, because a lot of their locations are getting…let’s say long in the tooth¹⁶ . They have a nice selection, just enough to sate the human urge to have some variety but not so much that you give up. I’ve never been to a Golden Pantry where the staff isn’t pleasant without being overbearingly so, a nice middle ground where it’s genuinely pleasant to have an otherwise bland commercial transaction.

But the gas pumps! The Golden Pantry forecourt, partnered with Shell, all want to play ads that can no longer be muted. Honestly, I try to avoid Golden Pantry as much as I can these days in favor of literally anywhere else that I’m not visually and audibly assaulted. There’s no ad blocker for real life, and I just don’t have the patience for this on a given day. It’s a shame, really: all the complexity of the forecourt, and we use it for unmutable ads and contentless content. I’m not expecting fueling operators to solve cancer, but surely there’s a better¹⁷ use of everything they’ve built.

When you get a chance, though, a point of pride they have is in their fresh food offerings. Their biscuits are probably the best I’ve ever had from a gas station, which is intended as a compliment if perhaps a bounded one. Generally, they have Cheerwine on draft as well. If you’re a soda/cola/_etc._ drinker, I highly recommend trying Cheerwine at least once in your life. S-tier soft drink.

What Timing…

This one’s been sitting around in drafted chunks for a while, but I guess gas is only getting further and further onto everyone’s mind lately. The longer I waited, the more it felt like content about gasoline was probably grating more and wearing thinner. I hope you enjoyed the content, and aren’t getting crushed too hard by gas prices. I promise, this was just a fun one that I thought would be pretty generally relatable. Next time, we’ll see where we go. I need to get a few more drafts going as well to pull from, so if you have thoughts on the types of things you’ve liked to read about so far let me know: I’ll find something I’ve seen that fits the bill. Thanks for reading!

References

• About Golden Pantry

• Cintas Best Restrooms

• As always, Wikipedia

• Buc-Ees in violation of Alabama gas pricing law

• A better newsletter on nerdier dives by J.B. Crawford

Thanks for joining me, where I’m one of today’s lucky 10,000! I hope you enjoyed it. Here’s all the beehiiv stuff that is required to be here.

— Lou

1  Read Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of a New Machine. It’s completely unrelated, about the Data General Eclipse MV/8000, but it’s great.

2  And diesel and ethanol blends and…yes, fine, all of that.

3  Though oddly enough swallowing it might be the best scenario? The Poison Control Center says gasoline products are not absorbed by the GI tract, and the primary concern seems to be aspirating and getting these products into your lungs. I still wouldn’t recommend drinking it.

4  Spain’s energy prices have not jumped nearly as much as the rest of Europe, thanks largely in part to a coordinated commitment to solar deployment. Maybe it’s happened before, but this is the first time I remember seeing an oil crisis largely mitigated by renewables at the national scale. Now THAT’S energy independence.

5  Well, I mean…

6  Err…

7  This isn’t a gas station thing, but there are direct links from fracking to flaming water, a part where we’re a bit behind the times on regulating properly. Very real negative impacts, avoidable impacts, but coupled to the very real benefit of natural gas extraction. Balancing these is hard! We do need to try, though.

8  Formerly British Petroleum, a company that traces its roots back to exploiting oil reserves in Iran and one of many stakes in the ground that led to the The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which goes to show that you can’t even talk about a simple gas station without the domino meme.

9  A gas station makes very little money on selling gas, despite the prices. It’s a tight margin on fuel for the retail operator.

10  Yes I did the thing when spelling that.

11  It’s a true thing!

12  Yeah I think we gotta give ‘em this one at this point in time.

13  Yeah, so, ummmmmmm….

14  Margins on gasoline are so tight, that Alabama doesn’t allow you to sell it as a loss leader to get folks into your convenience store. Today I Learned!

15  Wikipedia sources the Internet Archive which goes to an old About Wawa page, which in turn says “Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, Pa, in 1902.” Mystery…well, solved is a strong word, but at least we have the connection.

16  Apparently this is a horse thing, where chewing can cause their gums to recede and a folk method to age a horse is by how long their teeth look. Wild!

17  I don’t know how I qualify better here, and I’m not going to try. I think I’m just appealing to, come on, surely we could do something with this five minutes all gasoline-powered vehicle operators have to deal with regularly.