Gas stations grapple with signs; With fuel prices changing rapidly and drivers out to save pennies per gallon, updating signs is becoming more of a priority for many station owners -- and is making manual signs disappear

What Monique Valdez does at 6 a.m. every day is always of greatpublic interest.

She's the one who changes the gas price sign at the AlbuquerqueGas N' Save Food Mart.

"Sometimes it gets real busy, and people are always asking whatyou're doing and if it's going up or down," Valdez said about herearly morning work routine at the station.

"Lately, I've been changing it a lot," she said.

Valdez gets up at 5 a.m. to work the morning shift, whichincludes the 20-minute task of manually changing the gas price. It'svital to get it done as soon as she gets in so passersby don't seethe previous price, she said.

Valdez doesn't need a ladder to adjust the sign 10 to 12 feetoverhead. She has what she describes as a "big, really long polewith a suction thing on it."

With that 5-pound pole, she removes number cards and replacesthem with the cards she spreads out in the parking lot.

Station owner Fidel Jawad said he never changes prices during theday. "Sometimes it'll go up for a day or two and I don't even changeit, because I want to make sure the price is staying up" beforeboosting his own prices.

Gas prices might be what draws customers into the station, butindividuals in the business are quick to point out that sales ofmilk, candy bars and cigarette lighters are where the money comesfrom.

"No one makes money on gas," said Greg Stadjuhar, vice presidentof sales and marketing for Skyline Products, a Colorado Springscompany that manufactures electronic signs. "You make it by sellingthe hot dogs or the cola. If you take out the taxes or credit-cardfees, you're lucky to make two or three cents a gallon."

With gas prices changing rapidly and drivers looking to save evenjust a few cents a gallon, updating gas prices is becoming more andmore of a priority for many station owners, and it's making manualgas pricing signs like Jawad's disappear in favor of theirelectronic counterparts.

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores,almost 20 percent of all gas pricing signs in the United States areelectronically operated.

Major gas retailers have started switching over to electronicsigns. In Albuquerque, ConocoPhillips has purchased new signs forits stations.

"It's simply safer to change the prices than the manual way ofusing a ladder," said Terry Hunt, corporate spokeswoman forConocoPhillips. "It has a better image, look-wise, and it's justmore modern. We started transitioning three years ago, and we've hadnothing but positive feedback on them from customers and employees."

The electronic gas pricing signs have been available since the1980s, but their sales have boomed recently with more big companieslooking to adjust to rapid changes as efficiently as possible,Stadjuhar said.

His company has recorded double-digit growth in each of the lastfour years. He estimates the company ships out 15 to 20 signs eachweek despite prices ranging from $2,000 to $50,000, which depend onvariables such as size and the number of colors. The average signgoes for about $7,000, Stadjuhar said.

A station can choose between a classic scrolling sign or a light-emitting diode sign reminiscent of something at a Las Vegas casino.Signs can operate individually, with controls for price shiftingoperated by the store manager, or linked to a system operated out ofcorporate headquarters or other central location.

"We want the customer to have what they want," Stadjuhar said."The store manager or workers don't want to go out in the elementsor risk getting hit in a parking lot. And corporate loves it,because they can react quickly and stay up with competition."

Store managers say that when gas prices stay higher "for even afew hours, there's an impact," Stadjuhar said.

"Like one station owner said to me, 'I don't put the price of mymilk, Cokes and sandwiches for everyone to see. The only price theysee is gas.' "

Stadjuhar said the average gas station today changes prices seventimes a week (up from twice in 2000), and that high-volume stationsmight change their prices two, three, even four times a day.

Despite such competition, station owners boasting manual gasprice signs are in no rush to update. Jawad said if he changed hisprices multiple times a day as the price was rising, he might losebusiness.

"It gets to be a madhouse here," he said on a recent day as hemade change for a customer. "From 10 a.m. to noon this morning wehad lines of 10 to 20 people. It's all my fault, because I droppedthe gas prices."

Gas stations grapple with signs; With fuel prices changing rapidly and drivers out to save pennies per gallon, updating signs is becoming more of a priority for many station owners -- and is making manual signs disappear

What Monique Valdez does at 6 a.m. every day is always of greatpublic interest.

She's the one who changes the gas price sign at the AlbuquerqueGas N' Save Food Mart.

"Sometimes it gets real busy, and people are always asking whatyou're doing and if it's going up or down," Valdez said about herearly morning work routine at the station.

"Lately, I've been changing it a lot," she said.

Valdez gets up at 5 a.m. to work the morning shift, whichincludes the 20-minute task of manually changing the gas price. It'svital to get it done as soon as she gets in so passersby don't seethe previous price, she said.

Valdez doesn't need a ladder to adjust the sign 10 to 12 feetoverhead. She has what she describes as a "big, really long polewith a suction thing on it."

With that 5-pound pole, she removes number cards and replacesthem with the cards she spreads out in the parking lot.

Station owner Fidel Jawad said he never changes prices during theday. "Sometimes it'll go up for a day or two and I don't even changeit, because I want to make sure the price is staying up" beforeboosting his own prices.

Gas prices might be what draws customers into the station, butindividuals in the business are quick to point out that sales ofmilk, candy bars and cigarette lighters are where the money comesfrom.

"No one makes money on gas," said Greg Stadjuhar, vice presidentof sales and marketing for Skyline Products, a Colorado Springscompany that manufactures electronic signs. "You make it by sellingthe hot dogs or the cola. If you take out the taxes or credit-cardfees, you're lucky to make two or three cents a gallon."

With gas prices changing rapidly and drivers looking to save evenjust a few cents a gallon, updating gas prices is becoming more andmore of a priority for many station owners, and it's making manualgas pricing signs like Jawad's disappear in favor of theirelectronic counterparts.

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores,almost 20 percent of all gas pricing signs in the United States areelectronically operated.

Major gas retailers have started switching over to electronicsigns. In Albuquerque, ConocoPhillips has purchased new signs forits stations.

"It's simply safer to change the prices than the manual way ofusing a ladder," said Terry Hunt, corporate spokeswoman forConocoPhillips. "It has a better image, look-wise, and it's justmore modern. We started transitioning three years ago, and we've hadnothing but positive feedback on them from customers and employees."

The electronic gas pricing signs have been available since the1980s, but their sales have boomed recently with more big companieslooking to adjust to rapid changes as efficiently as possible,Stadjuhar said.

His company has recorded double-digit growth in each of the lastfour years. He estimates the company ships out 15 to 20 signs eachweek despite prices ranging from $2,000 to $50,000, which depend onvariables such as size and the number of colors. The average signgoes for about $7,000, Stadjuhar said.

A station can choose between a classic scrolling sign or a light-emitting diode sign reminiscent of something at a Las Vegas casino.Signs can operate individually, with controls for price shiftingoperated by the store manager, or linked to a system operated out ofcorporate headquarters or other central location.

"We want the customer to have what they want," Stadjuhar said."The store manager or workers don't want to go out in the elementsor risk getting hit in a parking lot. And corporate loves it,because they can react quickly and stay up with competition."

Store managers say that when gas prices stay higher "for even afew hours, there's an impact," Stadjuhar said.

"Like one station owner said to me, 'I don't put the price of mymilk, Cokes and sandwiches for everyone to see. The only price theysee is gas.' "

Stadjuhar said the average gas station today changes prices seventimes a week (up from twice in 2000), and that high-volume stationsmight change their prices two, three, even four times a day.

Despite such competition, station owners boasting manual gasprice signs are in no rush to update. Jawad said if he changed hisprices multiple times a day as the price was rising, he might losebusiness.

"It gets to be a madhouse here," he said on a recent day as hemade change for a customer. "From 10 a.m. to noon this morning wehad lines of 10 to 20 people. It's all my fault, because I droppedthe gas prices."