GAS WAR! – Two Neighboring Gas Stations in Georgia Started a Gas War, Prices Dropped As Low as $0.97 Before Police Had to Shut Down The Chaos
I love a good small town rivalry between competing businesses. In Dundee, Michigan (population 6,000 + 1 Cabela's), about an hour north of where I grew up, there are TWO competing beef jerky outlets. You've got Beef Jerky Experience Dundee west of the highway, and on the other side of 23 you've got Beef Jerky Unlimited. Both have all the different types of jerky a person could ask for. Not even a mile separates them. I feel like I've been told a story about the owners before, but I can't say I remember the details. I just know there's bad blood. You don't open a competing beef jerky outlet in a town of 6,000 people unless you've got a score to settle. It makes me laugh every time I pass by Dundee.
But I've never seen a small town, small business rivalry happen with gas prices. That's best case scenario for the community. Literally. I honestly can't think of a better industry for a couple of petty business owners to go to war over, to the point that they don't even care if they're hemorrhaging money. They just want to prove a point.
The explanation for what happened here is very simple and makes perfect sense. On one side of the road, there's an Amoco. On the other side, there's a Sunoco. It's Amoco's policy to always price their gas $0.05 lower than their cross-street competition. Eventually, Sunoco got sick and tired of seeing Amoco's prices change a minute after theirs. So one day, which I believe was Monday, the owner of the Sunoco decided to see how far Amoco would go.
The answer is 97 cents
People – A manager at Amoco told the outlet it was their policy to price gas five cents lower than its neighbor: “We’ll be like five cents lower than you and they don’t want to agree with that, so now it’s a war,” the manager said.
When asked how long the “war” would last, the Sunoco manager said, “I don’t know, sir. You need to ask them.”
The cost got as low as 97 cents for some lucky drivers.
It got so crazy that police had to come and shut down the street. They told everyone to go home or else their cars would be towed, and they'd go to jail. They did manage to get the road cleared, and people back at the pumps while prices were still nearly a dollar. But by the end of the night, the gas war was over, and prices were back to normal.
I would love to see the balance sheets for both these gas stations that night. They must have lost so much money. I know gas stations make surprisingly little selling fuel, because the margins are so slim. Most gas stations make their money from in-store sales. But all that means is that dropping your prices to below $1.00 is all the more devastating.
You know who the real winners in this thing are? The Little Caesars next door. The Waffle House across the street. They must have seen more traffic than they have… ever. Even the BP in the background, which seems to have not changed its prices a lick, you gotta think a good amount of people pulled up to the scene, saw the chaos, and thought to themselves, "Fuck this. I'm not that broke. But while I'm out, I might as well fill up."
What a rivalry. Two small businesses came to blows and ignited a gas war. Unfortunately, you gotta think they both walked away as massive losers. Profit-wise. But they're winners in my book. Because… hell idk… I love a good petty rivalry. I respect the great Powder Springs Gas War of 2026.