Mr. CHARLIE BINSTED, MINNESOTA SERVICE STATION ASSOCIATION, National Congress of Petroleum Retailers, DEAR CHARLIE: In response to your request for specific instances of jobber pricing activities, I include the following: 1. Rochester, Minnesota. B & F Distributing Co., a Texaco jobber and retailer for both Texaco and Skelly. On February 13, 1976, B & F had two of their own stations retailing Texaco gas at 48.9¢, while Texaco's DTW to the other Texaco dealers in Rochester was 51.6¢, not including rent. Two of B & F's Skelly stations were also retailing at 48.9¢ along with a Skelly car wash also buying at jobber prices while Skelly's DTW to other Skelly dealers in Rochester was 50.4¢. It should also be noted that out of the seven Texaco stations presently in Rochester, B & F Distributing operates three of them. In 1973 only one was under jobber operation. As for the seven Skelly stations in Rochester, two are operated by B & F Distributing, one is the car wash buying at jobber level. B & F Distributing has therefore gained control of four major brand stations, formerly dealer-operated in the last five years. They also have control of many stations in small towns in Southeastern Minnesota. Our former President Wayne Comstock, a Shell dealer in Mankato, Minnesota, a town 95 miles west of Rochester, was approached by the Texaco dealer rep in Southeastern Minnesota in an attempt to sell Wayne Texaco gas. In March of 1976, this Texaco rep offered Wayne all the Texaco gas he could pump at 46.85¢ per gallon, through the above mentioned B & F Distributing Co. This offer was made in the presence of a witness, and Texaco would not require Wayne to convert to Texaco in order to receive this gas. While this offer was made to Wayne the Texaco dealer's DTW in Rochester was 51.6¢. 2. Duluth, Minnesota, January, 1976. A complaint to the MSSA office regarding Como Oil Co., a Phillips 66 jobber. The dealer who complained is a Phillips 66 dealer buying gasoline from Como Oil at a DTW of 54.6¢, while Como Oil in their jobber-operated stations were retailing at 50.9¢. 3. St. Cloud, Minnesota, April, 1976. A complaint from a Phillips 66 dealer in Waite Park, a suburb of St. Cloud, regarding B & B Oil Co., a Phillips 66 jobber. The dealer complaining had a DTW of 51.6¢, purchasing his gasoline from B & B Oil. Meanwhile, B & B Oil Co. pays two brothers operating a station in Sauk Rapids, another suburb of St. Cloud, $900.00 per month to pump Phillips 66 gas through their station retailing it at 49.9¢. In effect, the jobber has taken over this station in an attempt to compete with a Skelly station across the street, a privately owned station buying at jobber level. 4. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Many examples of jobber operated stations exist here. Q Petroleum is an excellent example. Q Petroleum is a partnership formed about four and one-half years ago. One of the partners is an ex-Shell Oil dealer rep. Q Petroleum buys old, or abandoned major oil stations and converts them to Q Stations-gas only-some are self-service. Q Petroleum at a below jobber price and is strictly a retailer and back door seller of gasoline. Q's growth in the past four and one-half years is phenomenal, as Q now has over fifteen stations in the metro area. All of these stations are operated by managers in control of Q Petroleum selling at or below major dealers' DTW. 5. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Metro 500 is yet another example of a jobber using his jobber margin at the retail level. Metro 500 is about six and one-half years old. It went bankrupt prior to 1974, but was reorganized during the "gas shortage". Metro has about ten stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul, all of them abandoned major oil company locations. Metro's marketing method is just like Q's use the jobber margin to retail at or below major brand dealers' DTW. 6. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Hoffman Corner Oil. Hoffman Corner Oil is a DX jobber. In the last two years, Hoffman Corner Oil has converted at least five dealer-operated stations over to jobber operation, Self-service, gas only, at or below the DX DTW to branded DX deals. These Hoffman Corner Oil stations honor DX, Skelly and Cities Service credit cards. 7. Mankato, Minnesota. Key City Oil Co. is a Phillips 66 jobber. Of the four Phillips 66 stations in Mankato, three are jobber-operated. Out of these three stations two have been converted from dealer operations in just the last year. The remaining Phillips 66 station is being paid by Key City to pump Phillips |