Gas Station Sales Tank in 2Q16

Jeff Rinkov is the CEO of Lee & Associates.

LOS ANGELES—Gas station consumer sales tanked during the second quarter. According to the national retail report from Lee & Associates, which GlobeSt.com had previously received exclusively, gas station sales dropped 9.3% year-over-year. The decline is surprising, considering that gas station sales have helped drive consumer spending for the last year, which was driven by a decrease in oil prices. While this is surprising news, Jeff Rinkov, the CEO of Lee & Associates, says that with growth in urban cores, it is inevitable that people will drive less and rely more on public transportation.

“The way I look at gas station and convenience store sales is that they are typically commuter driven,” Rinkov tells GlobeSt.com. “If we really are in a push where we see urban cores developing and becoming more popular, than that means that people aren’t in their cars as much. That will limit convenience stores sales because people are more pedestrian and public transportation oriented.”