With gas prices soaring to $6.50 in California and topping $4 in many states, some retailers are seeing a pull back on spending, while others say business is as brisk as ever.
Business dropped off by 30 to 35 percent due to higher gas prices for a large distributor/retailer in California. “We’re very slow in SoCal because gas prices have gone so high in the past few months,” said the owner.
Audio Systems of Moreno Valley Montclair, CA said walk-ins are fewer and business is down about 25 percent. Store manager Yacdiel Ruiz said uncertainty about the war in Ukraine and its impact on the market here is also contributing to customer skittishness.
But Mark Cardoza, Cardoza & Co, rep in Pleasanton,CA near San Francisco, said most dealers are still selling strong despite higher gas prices. “We had our biggest month ever last month. We also had some inventory [after months of little inventory], but my backorder sales stayed about the same,” Cardoza said.
More than gas prices, he worries about the return to restaurants and travel. “That’s the thing I’m most fearful of. I think everyone should have learned that it’s not the shop down the street they are competing with, it’s the other interests [restaurants, etc].”
In the northeast, the selling season hasn’t fully kicked in at some retailers, but it’s hard to tell if the culprit is gas prices or the cold weather or delayed tax refunds. “I have not yet seen those people who come in with those green H&R Block credit cards [tax refunds], noted Jodi O’Connor of Jo-Di’s Sound Center. “I think it’s the cold. I know when usually I get a beautiful Saturday in March I’m slammed. Our last couple of Saturdays have been cold and rainy.”
Avenue Sound, NY said it’s seen less foot traffic in the past few weeks. “It’s not just in my store. I talk to a lot of the local shops around here and foot traffic is slow. I’ve noticed it on the road, there’s less cars on the road today than yesterday and there was less yesterday than the day before,” said Vikas Moolchandani, speaking in late March.
Not so in Louisiana, said Alan Benit of Ricky Smith’s Audio. “I’m looking out the window. It’s the same amount of traffic as always on the road. We’re in an oil and gas area. So a lot of our customers are employed by oil and gas companies that profit sometimes when the price of gas is up.”
Sound Depot & Performance, FL also said it has yet to see an impact from gas prices.
On the supplier side, VOXX said it’s seeing a “little bit of a slowdown” due to gas prices, but its rear seat video business is up as the summer travel season begins.
You can go over to CNET here to view which states have the lowest and highest gas prices.
Photo via ABC7News
Elections have consequences…
Gas is ridiculous in Phx AZ, only a few cents down from the hgihest ever with more price increases coming, and biz is slow, thanks Brandon :(!
Another thing we need to consider is the effect from the last stimulus package. The tax credit of $250 per child goes against whatever refund you were going to get for 2021. It affected my family.
Slowest spring I’ve had in years.. there was more business with Covid on the rise in 2020. Looks like it’s going to be a tough 2022 summer season.
How old is this article? Gas prices have come down a bit the last 7-9 days. AAA puts California average at $5.70 and $4.08 nationally. Los Angeles almanac has LA average at $5.64 right now. I paid $3.39 yesterday in my hometown. Oh. Credit at the bottom shows March 3. Come on…
Bill. The comments from SoCal dealers are about a week old and quite relevant. The credit at the bottom of the story is for a photo, and the price of $4.85 it shows remains active in some markets. CEoutlook has been interviewing retailers on this topic for a month. Many retailers in March said they handn’t seen an impact from gas prices yet, but they believed there would be a delayed reaction. So we held the story, continued to interview retailers over several weeks and then reported our findings.