Consumers buying less beef jerky with gas, joining car pools,
but still buying SUVs
Hollister – As Hollisterites continue to grumble about $3 gasoline, anecdotal sales figures show that may be cutting back on impulse items such as beef jerky, candy bars and chewing gum to offset the increased cost of a fill-up.
Quick Stop Cashier Domitilo Guerra noticed the trend when gas prices soared in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Last month inside sales were slightly off, but now that gas prices have dropped below $3, there’s not much difference,” he said. “We hear some complaints about the high prices, but people still have to buy gas – no matter what they still have to go to work.”
San Benito County Transportation Planner Veronica Lezama said another result of high gas prices is more carpooling.
The County Transportation officer supplies lists of people who share similar commutes. And for $450 a month, county residents can lease one of the four vans owned by the county to start a vanpool. Both options became popular in the last few months, Lezama said.
“When gas was above $3 per gallon, we had a least three or four calls each day from people asking about vanpools and carpools,” she said. “Even now we continue to get a least a few calls each day.”
Although high pump prices may have diminished Hollister’s appetite for beef jerky, local consumers are still hungry for big trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles.
Tiffany Ford continues to sell five times as many trucks and SUVs as cars, Sales Manager Nathan Mirza said Friday.
“They’re still popular despite the high gas prices, because where we live having a truck is a necessity, especially for farmers,” he said. “And in the last couple of months we’ve been selling a lot more cars and trucks because of the Ford Family Plan.”
It’s not just trucks, Mirza said it’s been hard to keep SUVs like the Ford Escape Hybrid in stock. In the last two weeks, Tiffany Ford has sold three 4-cylinder gas-electric Escapes. Although it gets fewer miles to the gallon, the new Ford Mustang GT is nearly impossible to keep in stock, Mirza said.
Sales are also brisk next door at Greenwood Chevrolet, Sales Manger Stephen Schipper said. However, Schipper said that some fuel-conscious buyers are avoiding some of General Motors largest vehicles.
“Sales of the Suburban have slowed,” he said. “And there’s been more interest in economy cars as of late.”
High fuel prices also have those in the market for heavy-duty trucks looking at fuel-efficient diesel models, Schipper said.
“People are downsizing, instead of the Suburban, they are looking at the Tahoe,” he said. “The smaller sport utilities are doing really well.”
Even with gas prices hovering around $3 per gallon, Greenwood Chevrolet customers continue to buy sports cars with behemoth engines like the Corvette, Schipper said.
“They like it because it is the only 400 horsepower vehicle without a gas-guzzler tax,” he said.
