November 21, 2002
TIFT CO. - Drivers are coming from all around to fill their tanks in Omega, population one thousand.
"Started to go all way to Cairo and I'm like man $1.09, notice how I whipped around," Annette Higdon said.
It's been pretty much a morning ritual for Omega Trading post manager Suzanne Dunn the past ten days or so. She looks down the road to see where her new competition's prices are, and changes the sign once again.
"Guess you could call it a gas war," Dunn said. "Neighbor moved in, and we're just following his lead. He's trying to build business, and we're trying to protect ours."
"We are more or less giving customers good deal to get the customers back, they all like it," Texaco Manager Martha Bufford said.
In the one stop light town of Omega, with prices at $1.09, traffic is moving pretty smoothly, but when it's been 99 cents, things have gotten pretty hectic.
"We almost had a traffic jam, it would be kind of exciting if we weren't losing money," Dunn said.
These two family run shops are waging their price war at costs near or below the price of crude oil.
"Go between here and Macon, all the way to Florida line, and this is the best price I've seen, it's been $1.49 in some places," motorist Donny Jarvis said.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline is $1.42. In Georgia it's somewhat lower at $1.28.
posted at 6:45 p.m. by dave.d'marko@walb.com
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