The Grapefruit Guage

We drove from Florida to North Carolina a few days ago and I wanted to stop for a bag of grapefruit. The first time I did that was in the mid-90s and I bought those juicy yellow orbs for 10 cents apiece. The last time I did it was two years ago. The price was considerably steeper, but I remember the fruit stand overflowing with bags of Florida citrus the way grapes fall from the edge of a full fruit bowl.

That last time it was crowded too. I had to wait in line.

This time the stand was sparse, showing more stand than fruit. And we were the only ones there.

I had to go inside the gas station to get the vendor who was doing double duty as BP attendant and produce manager.

"Is it the end of the season?" I asked.

"No," he answered, "in fact it's the height of the season for some of these oranges."

I asked if he'd been busy. He hadn't. Not for the past few years. He hoped things would pick up when the kids got out of school and more families made the drive south.

I take it that gas prices rather than the economy originally hurt the off-Interstate vendors. But gas prices have plummeted since early fall and sales aren't improving. I wasn't encouraged either by the next place we stopped; a small gas station off I-95 somewhere in South Carolina where the shelves in the far third of the store were completely bare.

Here's a hint if you happen to own one of these stores. A successful Toronto businessman told this story, but I can't remember if it was Ed Mirvish or Mel Lastman. When he worked in his parent's store as a young man during the depression, he lined the shelves with empty boxes to make the store look prosperous. The shelves overflowed with filler and the trick worked.