BAINBRIDGE – With a price per gallon nearly 30 cents cheaper in Bainbridge than in other local areas, drivers are flocking to the small town to fill up their tank. Gas prices in Bainbridge are currently the lowest in Chenango County and it looks like they will continue to drop.
The root cause of the price differential is competition. “We’re in a price war,” said Hailey Hingos, manager of the Quickway on Main Street in Bainbridge. “Xtra Mart has been driving the price.”
“It’s a little lower than it should be right now,” reported Hingos, and she expects the price to drop even further. The station’s posted price Tuesday afternoon was $3.75 per gallon for regular unleaded.
At the moment, the low gas prices are not hurting business by any means. What the station may be losing in margins, it is certainly making up in volume. Hingos and her staff have seen an influx of customers from Chenango, Delaware and Otsego counties. “We had one lady come all the way from Davenport,” said Hingos, referring to a town more than 40 miles away.
Hingos’ main competition is the Bainbridge Xtra Mart on Route 206. “With the price per barrel going down, we only need to make a certain margin. We felt we could be more aggressive,” said Xtra Mart’s station manager, who declined to be named. “It gives everyone a little bit of a break.”
The Xtra Mart’s business took a serious hit after flooding in 2006 damaged the bridge linking the convenience store with town. According to the station’s manager, part of the motivation for his aggressive pricing is to help get that business back. The strategy seems to be working for the station so far.
The manager stressed that the Xtra Mart is not selling gas below his cost, which would be illegal under predatory pricing laws. He said he will continue to lower the station’s price, which stood at $3.71 this morning, as long as the price per barrel of oil continues to fall.