I remember in 1993 you could get gas for 87 cents a gallon around here….
the combo of a pack of jack's cigarettes and a gallon of gas at Sheetz for $1.99 were epic times.
As a non-smoker I am unfamiliar with this brand -- what are these super cheap cigs and what do they cost now?
In the early ’90s, Sheetz sold Jacks, its own cigarette brand. At the time, it was experimenting with in-house brands, including the loudly advertised—and then quietly discontinued—cola brand It! (exclamation points theirs).
Jacks cost $1 a pack, when the average cigarette price per pack was $1.40. As fewer people smoked, tobacco companies increased prices to maintain profit margins. Sheetz actually made less from selling a pack of Jacks at $1 than it did a pack of Marlboros or Camels at $1.40 (15 cents versus 45 cents), but the low price on cigarettes kept people coming in, and of course no one ever leaves Sheetz with just what they came for.
“Sandwiches were up, drinks were up, candy bars were up,” Louie Sheetz, brother to Steve and Bob, told the author of Made to Order. “The discounted cigarettes were bringing in foot traffic, and customers were buying other products.”
