Costco Gas Pumps: Not all created equal

Good grief! As all of us who live in cities large enough to support two or more Costco stores know, individual outlets of that worthy retailer tailor the merchandise to their surrounding demographics. Although basic supplies stay the same from store to store, the blandishments do not: the fancier the neighborhood, the more variety in choices.

Inside the stores, when any two Costco outlets offer the same products, the prices are the same. But outside? Not so much!

I dropped by the Costco near the college today, partly to cash in this year’s AMEX rebate and partly to see if I could pick a few things missing at own much more downscale store. Yes indeed, they did have the lifetime supply of sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, MIA here in the ghetto. Not only that, but I picked up a pair of periwinkle blue jeans, unheard of among the working classes.

On the way out, I drove through the gas station. “Through” is the operative word: they wanted $2.55 a gallon, not significantly different from the street price and altogether, IMHO, too much.

From there I had to drive to the credit union at the West campus of GDU, there to deposit the $334 rebate (!) in my savings account. Another Costco outlet is located right on the way, and that one resides in a much scruffier area. Whip into the gas line there, and what do I find on the pump but a price of $2.43!

That’s a twelve-cent-a-gallon difference!

Since I bought 6.355 gallons, I saved almost a dollar (well…76 cents) by moving on down the road a couple of miles. The car was about a third of a tank down, so had I done a complete refill, the savings would have been over two dollah.