Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open.

Why do gas stations charge different amounts in the same local area?
I only have anecdotal evidence here as members of my family used to own a grocery store / gas station, but they were often time charged much more to have the gasoline delivered to than many gas stations which were just a mile or two away (up to 15% more).  Also depending upon the branding of the gas station, they are required to use certain distributors (i.e. if you are an Exxon gas station you can only use a few select vendors) which gave them less control of their final cost.  All in all the gasoline often had smaller margins than items in the grocery store, which are already extremely low.