(It's more profitable when you) Put a cup of coffee in your tank

Elizabeth Ryan buying quality coffee at an Exxon station in Dallas. Photo Natalie Caudill; Dallas Morning News. The Dallas Morning News reports that "Exxon Mobil Corp. wants to earn global prominence for an entirely different product: gourmet coffee. Facing intense competition at gas pumps, the world's largest publicly traded energy company is betting on new brews of coffee to keep customers returning to its convenience stores...

Unlike the more profitable businesses of drilling for crude oil and refining it into gasoline, selling fuel at the pump typically draws a net profit of a few pennies per gallon. Gasoline retailers are increasingly squeezed by rising credit card processing fees and – due to rising prices – lower sales of the more profitable premium gasoline... Oil companies and independent retailers can't simply count on gasoline anymore for their profits, 'You better have a model that gets the customer inside the convenience store,' says Tom Kloza, director of the Oil Price Information Service."

While an Exxon convenience store isn't likely to become a third place, all independent retail businesses are encouraged to constantly be aware of changes in the marketplace, and ideas from all sources.