The price of gas jumped up again in the last week, but a clerk at one Iowa gas station says it’s no conspiracy. The clerk in West Des Moines, who didn’t want his name used, says of local owners aren’t making any more money.He says prices stay the same in a town because retailers watch each other, and maybe the big oil companies are raking it in. The clerk and manager don’t think people accept the increases just because the economy’s doing well. He says when he counts up money at the end of the day, there are a lot of “ones” in the drawer. He says profit margins are actually down for retailers, since the prices started rising this spring. He says he’s been doing this for seventeen years, and can’t remember how low gas was then but a couple years ago when they sold for 99 cents, customers were lined up back to the Interstate. The clerk says customers aren’t angry at him, but everyone comments on how fast gasoline prices are going up, and some are upset. The price of a gallon of unleaded ethanol is a dollar sixty-seven a gallon at most Des Moines stations.
