On a side note, the fallout would be all the independent operators who sell their products.
I'm not so sure how bad that would be. A friend of mine in New Jersey has a Sunoco station. He says he sells his for .08 more than it costs him to buy (while cursing that the nearby foreign owned one still has a street price lower than his, a multi-station owner who's trying to force him out). He says the vast majority of customers use credit cards, which cost him .05. That leaves him three cents a gallon to pay a guy (New Jersey is full service by law), provide his benefits, pay for and maintain pumps, pay for ALL those special state permits on his wall, etc, not to mention all the property it sits on.
He LOSES money every day on gas. All it does is bring in business for his hot rod/repair/fabrication business and the tiny convenience store that he had to spend a fortune just to add last year.
I know one thing I've seen many times in the southeast. When a gas station loses it's beer permit, it's often not long before they close their doors. I've heard that gas alone is a loser down here, too.
IF people will still stop into the same stores to buy the same products they do now, not buying gas might even HELP the independent. Of course, how many people are going to buy gas at one store and then stop into another to buy whatever else?
I suggested something to my friend but he won't take a gamble on it. I said "Go to cash only and drop your price .03. Then you're making .05 instead of the .03 you do now after the credit card companies take their cut." He doesn't believe that people will pay cash instead of plastic to save a few cents a gallon. I told him if there was one around here that was cheaper than everyone else but, only accepted cash, we'd be buying there.
Another friend said when a biz goes to cash only, people see that as a sign that the business is strapped/in trouble and that they lost card accounts due to falling credit ratings.
