The price of gasoline may have peaked this year and Oklahomans have had the lowest prices in the nation throughout the fall price surge, AAA of Oklahoma said Monday.
“The national gasoline price average has been trending downward for the better part of a month now, and it is possible the highest gas prices of the year are behind us,” the auto organization said.
“Still, today’s average of $2.89 a gallon (in Oklahoma) is a full dollar more than a year ago on this date.”
The state average price at the pump is down three cents as compared to a week ago and 13 cents cheaper than a month ago, AAA said.
The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.33, down two cents on the week, eight cents less than a month ago but still $1.17 more than a year ago.
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There are two factors that have been pushing pump prices lower — lower demand, which is typical at this time of year, and a drop in the price of oil, AAA said.
“Gas prices tend to fall a bit this time of year due to the shorter days and less robust demand,” said Leslie Gamble, spokeswoman for AAA Oklahoma.
“This downward trend got an assist from the recent drop in oil prices due to fears over the omicron variant, but the variant’s impact on pricing appears to be fading, so it remains to be seen if oil prices stabilize or move higher.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks increased by nearly 4 million barrels to 219,304 million barrels last week.
Meanwhile, gasoline demand was relatively flat, creeping upwards from 8.8 million barrels a day to 8.9 million. The slight increase in demand was countered by crude prices in the low $70s per barrel, AAA said.
Timeline: QuikTrip through the years, from the first store in 1958 to the 900th now
Sept. 25, 1958: First QuikTrip
QuikTrip began operations with a single store in 1958 at 52nd Street at Peoria Avenue (5204 S. Peoria Ave.). Then-26-year-olds Burt Holmes and Chester Cadieux invested their life savings to open the small grocery store in their hometown.
The first location nearly failed, Cadieux said in 2008.
"It was a horrible location, and we didn't sell any of the right stuff," he said. "The first store was unprofitable for quite a while — a couple of years at least."
QuikTrip in the 1960s
Initially, QuikTrip was simply a convenience store chain, not selling gasoline. The first three stores struggled because of bad locations before the fourth store opened on East Pine Street about three years after the company was founded.
"With each store we got a little less dumb, and that fourth store was the one that saved QuikTrip," Chester Cadieux said in 2008.
It took 10 years for QuikTrip to turn a profit, Cadieux said. Installing fuel pumps helped, boosting traffic inside the store by 10 percent.
Pictured is the QuikTrip at 56th and Lewis in 1966.
QuikTrip in the 1970s, including 100th store
QuikTrip opened its 100th store in the early 70s after purchasing the Shop-EZ chain out of Wichita. However, spokesman Mike Thornbrugh said in 2009 that Shop-EZ was one of the company's few acquisitions and helped convince executives that it was better to build a new market from the ground up.
It was in 1972 that QuikTrip started installing gas pumps. "We were cash strapped for most of the '70s," Chester Cadieux said in 2003.
Pictured is the downtown QuikTrip store at 410 S. Main in 1976.
QuikTrip in the 1980s, as chain grows above 200 stores
By 1980, there were 210 locations, but sales growth began to slow.
"Convenience was not enough anymore," Chester Cadieux said in 2003. "You had to be a retailer."
QuikTrip sold off a group of smaller stores and began to focus on bigger cities and increased fuel sales, Cadieux said, adding that the company learned to be a gasoline marketer after its debut in Atlanta in November 1986.
Pictured is QuikTrip's second downtown store in Sept. 1981, located in the Pythian Building, 421 S Boulder Ave.
QuikTrip in the 1990s, as annual sales surpass $1 billion and 300th store opens
QuikTrip opened its 300th store in Sand Springs in April 1992.
The 90s were a strong period of growth for the chain, when QT surpassed $1 billion in annual sales by 1995. It also made Forbes' Top 500 privately held United States companies list.
The QuikTrip at 36th and Peoria is pictured in November 1998.
2000: QT purchases property at 4600 S. 129th East Ave for new corporate offices
Almost exactly 44 years after opening the first store on South Peoria Avenue, the growing chain planned for a new corporate complex in east Tulsa at 4600 S. 129th East Ave.
The company headquarters opened in 2002 and expanded about a decade later in 2013.
2002: 400th QuikTrip opens in Arizona
QuikTrip's 400th store was in Tempe, Arizona, according to its corporate site.
2003: QuikTrip makes Fortune's 'Best Companies to Work For' list for first time
The streak would continue for years, but 2003 was the first time Fortune named QuikTrip as one of the best companies to work for.
May 2008: QT opens 500th location
The newest QT store at Elm and Kenosha in Broken Arrow opens (pictured), marking the chain's 500th location.
QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh said at the time that "It's incredible (the growth) we've seen... We operate in a very limited area — nine states, 500 stores — and we sell about 1.7 percent of all the gasoline in the U.S."
He also said that the company has closed about 420 stores deemed unsatisfactory and that renovating older stores and building new ones to replace outdated models has helped the company maintain quality.
September 2008: QuikTrip celebrates 50th anniversary
The Tulsa-based chain celebrates 50 years in business with a blowout celebration at River West Festival Park.
"I don't know what we'll be like in 50 years," said CEO and chairman Chet Cadieux at the time, "but I do know that, just as today, we'll have great people working for us and that we'll have great real estate. That makes for a lot of options."
October 2011: QuikTrip expands into 10th state, South Carolina
QuikTrip opened its first South Carolina store, expanding into a 10th state across the chain. It also announced plans to open its first North Carolina store soon after.
The stores were intended to complement more than 100 stores that QuikTrip operates in Atlanta. QuikTrip also has a distribution warehouse and a QT Kitchens food preparation facility in Atlanta, both of which will ship retail products to stores in the Carolinas.
March 2012: QT opens 600th store in Claremore
With its 600th store, pictured here in Claremore, QuikTrip is growing into one of the biggest convenience store chains in the nation. It was listed as the 19th largest based on the number of stores by Convenience Store News in July 2010.
April 2012: QT announces plans for store at site near original QuikTrip, at former site of Camelot Hotel
The Camelot Hotel, which opened in 1965, was billed as a castle that would accommodate visiting knights and ladies in a style befitting their rank.
However, with the hotel's demolition in 2007, it created a vacancy for QuikTrip to return near the site of its first store, which the chain did in 2012.
Pictured is a plaque on the outside of the new QuikTrip on the former site of the old Camelot Hotel at 51st and Peoria.
June 2014: QT announces 700th store at St. Louis site
The addition of the St. Louis site marked the fastest expansion in the history of the Tulsa-based convenience chain, which had opened 100 stores in two years.
Another milestone of note at the time; QuikTrip opened its 50th store in the Carolinas with the addition of a site in Charlotte, North Carolina.
January 2016: QuikTrip competing in food service
March 2016: QT co-founder Chester Cadieux dies at age 84
In addition to his role with QuikTrip, he was a former chairman of Tulsa United Way and had also helmed its annual fundraising campaign.
He had also served on and chaired the boards of Tulsa River Parks and Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa.
Among his honors, he was a member of TU's Business Hall of Fame, the Tulsa Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Read his obit here.
April 2019: QT opens 800th store with three more in Texas
The Tulsa-based convenience chain opened a total of three stores throughout the day in Texas: two in the Dallas area and one in San Antonio.
The San Antonio location, the sixth in that city, is the official 800th store.
Labor Day sale: $1 for six months
