Southland Gas Stations Getting Scarcer, Bigger : Energy: The Lundberg Survey shows a 5.3% drop in outlets this year. An analyst cites the soaring cost of land as a major factor for the trend.
Motorists are finding fewer service stations in Southern California than they did a year ago, but the ones remaining are bigger and more likely to be open all night.
According to the results of a recent census by the Lundberg Survey, the number of stations in a four-county area fell 5.3% to 4,972 this year from 5,252 in 1988. That is far below the 8,961 service stations 15 years ago, reported Lundberg, a North Hollywood-based gasoline marketing research firm.
But the average number of gasoline nozzles per station actually increased this year, to more than 13 from 11.7. That’s an average of one nozzle for every 150 cars on the road in 1989, compared to one for every 155 cars in 1988 and one for every 105 cars in 1974.
The September census, which surveyed every retail gasoline and diesel outlet in the area, confirmed a decadelong move away from the once-familiar service station at virtually every major intersection--with a mechanic on duty.
“The trend has been toward fewer service stations with larger volumes, and that’s just a matter of economics,” said McDonald J. Beavers, an industry analyst and head of the Whitney Leigh Corp., a market research firm in Tulsa, Okla. “In the 1960s, major oil companies attempted to increase market share by building more outlets, and not enough attention was paid to the economics of each individual outlet, hence they were overbuilt.
“But starting in the late 1970s, particularly, companies looked more at the economics of retail marketing and found that they’d best get rid of those outlets that did not stand on their own two feet,” he said. “Nowadays, if you’re talking about a major metropolitan area, it can cost as much as $1 million just for the land and building.”
This year--as another sign of the need to pump higher volumes of gas--202 more stations in Southern California converted to 24-hour operation, an increase of 9.2% over a year ago, the census found. Virtually no stations were open all night in 1974.
“A service station today produces four- or five-fold what a station did four or five years ago,” said Clay Warnock, the head of Western Regional Marketing for Unocal Corp. “It’s essential to survive.”
Among other things, the census confirmed that the continuing disappearance of service bays--well-known to anyone who has ever searched in vain for a gas station to fix a broken fan belt.
The average number of service bays per station declined to 1.3 from 1.6. About half of the stations continued to have a convenience store on the premises, the census added.
But the decline does not necessarily translate into more hassles for motorists, observers said. For one thing, there are now quick lube and fast tuneup shops to take up the slack left by service stations.
For another, new cars do not require as much of the maintenance that service station attendants once performed routinely: checking battery and oil levels, tire pressures, radiator water.
For the driver who just wants to drive in, get gas, pay and go, the advent of a smaller number of larger, low-service stations means less time at the pump.
“In that sense, the consumer can save money and time both,” said Thomas F. Hogarty, research manager with the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s main trade group. “And the time saving is perhaps the biggest factor.”
Results of the census, which covered Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, were provided to The Times prior to their publication in an upcoming edition of the survey’s widely read Lundberg Letter.
Other findings:
* The total number of gasoline nozzles in the four-county area jumped to 65,052 in 1989 from 61,572 in 1988. That is not much below the 65,415 in 1974, when there were more than twice as many service stations in Southern California.
* The total number of service bays dropped to 6,455 in 1989 from 8,545 in 1988 and 20,610 in 1974. Some observers believe that the pace at which service bays are disappearing has slowed as some oil companies, such as Unocal and Chevron, use service as a marketing tool.
* From 1988 to 1989, the total number of motor vehicles in Southern California has increased 2.2% to 9.76 million from 9.55 million. In 1974, there were 6.87 million.
* Southern California accounts for roughly 45% of all gasoline consumed in the entire state.
FEWER GAS STATIONS, MORE NOZZLES
Census of gasoline stations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties
1974 1988 1989 Total stations 8,961 5,252 4,972 Total vehicles 6.87 million 9.55 million 9.76 million Total gasoline nozzles 65,415 61,572 65,052 Total service bays 20,610 8,545 6,455
Sources: Lundberg Survey, California Department of Motor Vehicles
