Planning 4 High Prices

Gas prices are a pain for everyone right now. Even if you don’t drive, you’re paying higher prices for transported goods, airline tickets, etc. Prices are rising so fast that gas-station signs can’t even keep up. Owners are scrambling to have enough numbers to keep their signs accurate.

It’s a busy time for companies that make numeric gas-station signs. As fuel prices hit that dreaded $4 mark, sign firms have seen a rise in orders for additional numbers. “We have been getting more orders than usual for 4s,” said Jennifer Deforest, account manager for Gemini Signs (Marlborough, MA). She says orders really picked up over April ’08, with many stations even planning ahead and ordering extra 5s as well.

Other sign firms, like Empro (Paterson, NJ), say the numeral 4 is ordered 10 times more often than any other number.

Some older, independent stations have found creative solutions in order to keep selling. Antiquated pumps can’t even display current gas prices, and some stations have snagged special permission to list and sell their gas prices by the half gallon.