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Falling gas prices good for local businesses
By ELLIOTT COCHRAN
As the price of unleaded gasoline continues to fall across the nation, Montgomery County business owners are enjoying profits once spent on gasoline budgets but are still keeping a close eye on the price at the pumps.
As of Nov. 6, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Texas settled at $2.13, a decrease of 18 cents from the previous week, according to AAA Texas. It’s even lower in the Houston area – including Montgomery County – where it sits at an average of $2.07 a gallon, a 22-cent drop from the week before.
For local restaurants and catering businesses that depend on delivering their products and got hit hard this summer from fuel that went as high as $3.96 a gallon, the drop in gas prices is a welcome sight.
The holiday season is the busiest time of year for Maria and Ray Murillo, owners of Catering Delights in The Woodlands. Holiday sales makes up approximately 30 percent of their business, Maria Murillo said.
The business will save an average of $340 a week on gas for their two large vans, a minivan and a pickup truck, she said.
“Whenever the gas prices went up, it directly affected our profit margin to a point that business was tough,” she said. “We’re super happy, and the price of gas the way it is will help us tremendously, however long it lasts.”
Maria Murillo said her profit margin will increase approximately 10 percent if the current price of gas holds.
Restaurant owners in the county have said their businesses were not badly affected by the rising price of gas over the summer, but prices for delivery of supplies had become expensive.
“When gas was as high as it was this summer, people gave us trouble coming back out if they forgot something from our supply order,” she said. “With gas this low, I don’t think we’ll have those kinds of problems and it’s really nice, but we’re waiting for the ball to drop.
“We hope it doesn’t, but we’ll be ready.”
According to officials with AAA Texas, gas prices have fallen dramatically because the price of oil has dropped.
Oil prices dropped below $57 a barrel Wednesday as a Bank of England warning about the risk of deflation stoked fears of stagnating global growth.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down $2.49 at $56.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have plunged more than 60 percent in four months, falling from a record $147.27 in July.
As of Nov. 6, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Texas settled at $2.13, a decrease of 18 cents from the previous week, according to AAA Texas. It’s even lower in the Houston area – including Montgomery County – where it sits at an average of $2.07 a gallon, a 22-cent drop from the week before.
For local restaurants and catering businesses that depend on delivering their products and got hit hard this summer from fuel that went as high as $3.96 a gallon, the drop in gas prices is a welcome sight.
The holiday season is the busiest time of year for Maria and Ray Murillo, owners of Catering Delights in The Woodlands. Holiday sales makes up approximately 30 percent of their business, Maria Murillo said.
The business will save an average of $340 a week on gas for their two large vans, a minivan and a pickup truck, she said.
“Whenever the gas prices went up, it directly affected our profit margin to a point that business was tough,” she said. “We’re super happy, and the price of gas the way it is will help us tremendously, however long it lasts.”
Maria Murillo said her profit margin will increase approximately 10 percent if the current price of gas holds.
Restaurant owners in the county have said their businesses were not badly affected by the rising price of gas over the summer, but prices for delivery of supplies had become expensive.
“When gas was as high as it was this summer, people gave us trouble coming back out if they forgot something from our supply order,” she said. “With gas this low, I don’t think we’ll have those kinds of problems and it’s really nice, but we’re waiting for the ball to drop.
“We hope it doesn’t, but we’ll be ready.”
According to officials with AAA Texas, gas prices have fallen dramatically because the price of oil has dropped.
Oil prices dropped below $57 a barrel Wednesday as a Bank of England warning about the risk of deflation stoked fears of stagnating global growth.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery was down $2.49 at $56.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have plunged more than 60 percent in four months, falling from a record $147.27 in July.
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