The future of gas stations will require a shift back to the old days, embracing the concept of “service stations” to reimagine the 150,000 pieces of real estate in the US today. Premium fast casual restaurants, an Amazon locker and return location, a dark kitchen for food delivery, or all three are just some ideas for a true “service station” that make sense on the real estate.
The National Association of Convenience Stores says 120,000 so-called “C stores” also sell fuel, accounting for the majority of gas stations. While the gasoline brings you in, the C store makes the business really work. Boston Consulting Group calculates that between 25% and 80% of gas stations could be unprofitable by 2035.
While some gas stations generate revenue from car maintenance and smog tests, EVs need little of the former and none of the latter. Beyond the changes in cars themselves are other pressures: Local bans on new or updated gas stations, and the expansion of food and meal delivery services that may connect people with those much more fuel-efficiently than all of us making trips in our own cars.
Read the article at CNET.
