Cheap Prices Fuel Competition

DAYTON -- Two competing grocery stores have been creating traffic jams with an old-fashioned gas war with prices reaches as low as a dime a gallon. Kroger, the nation's largest grocery chain, opened a new store last week less than a mile from a Meijer's store. Both stores, as part of a growing trend toward one-stop shopping, have gas pumps outside, according to the Associated Press.The price war began heating up within a few hours of the Kroger store's opening. As soon as one station dropped its price, the other countered with a lower price. By 3 p.m., the price was 42 cents a gallon. By evening, gas was going for 10 cents a gallon. As customers flocked to the pumps for the cheap fuel, patience grew short and the Montgomery County Sheriff's deputies had to be called in two each store break up fights and try to maintain traffic flow. Brenda Bauer, manager of the Meijer station, estimated that more than 1,000 people bought the cheap fuel at the station. "The longer you wait in line, the cheaper the gas gets," she said. "There's a deal there."The competition lasted throughout the weekend. The price of gasoline at the Meijer was back up to $1.12 a gallon yesterday. But by noon, it was down to 71 cents a gallon, and it fell to 51 cents by the end of the day.