FavTrip defies gas price surge with discounts
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FavTrip's Grandview location. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
A local gas station and convenience store chain is keeping prices low amid increasing rates thanks to a mix of business smarts, social media savvy and a loyal customer base.
Why it matters: FavTrip continues to offer 10- to 50-cent-per-gallon discounts every Friday, even as the company's owner notes tensions in the Middle East make it a tricky business.
Zoom in: If you've never heard of FavTrip, that's probably because there are only four locations scattered across Grandview, Independence and KCMO.
- Babir Sultan, who started out managing the first FavTrip store for his parents, is now the president and CEO.
- "American dream's alive and well for those that seek it out," he tells Axios.
- Sultan's family is from Pakistan, and he grew up in New York.
How it works: Customers who join a text reward program get 5 cents off on any day and bigger discounts on FavTrip Fridays — they just show the clerk the text on their phone.
- Sultan says he shops around for the best deal on gas from big companies such as Shell, BP and Conoco, potentially saving the company thousands of dollars each week.
The latest: Jackson County's average price of gas is $3.55 per gallon as of yesterday, per AAA.
- FavTrip's Grandview location was selling at $3.49 without any discount.
Friction point: An ongoing stalemate between the U.S. and Iran has the world's most important oil shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, in a chokehold, and the conflict is affecting prices.
- "You're one tweet away from either making a penny or losing 20 cents a gallon" of gas, Sultan says.
- "We hope there's never a time" we can't offer discounts, he says. "These folks have been loyal to us for eight-plus years."
Between the lines: Cheap gas isn't the only reason people come back, Sultan says. For one, FavTrip emphasizes family friendliness and doesn't sell alcohol or lottery tickets.
- They also have a drive-thru for food and party lights in the bathroom, and they make deliveries using a hand-painted FavTrip car and sell fresh produce from Kanbe's Markets.
- And they're widely known online and in the community for posting comedic videos of shoplifters — resulting in millions of views and fewer incidents.
By the numbers: "We reach about 20 million people a month through our social media," Sultan says, and "25,000 people in that text club."
What's next: Sultan says FavTrip is beta-testing an app in May, with a full rollout as early as June, offering additional discounts for customers.