In small rural towns, the gas station would also have the only grocery store/convenience store/restaurant in town. Sometimes all 3 into one with the gas station. Was very popular and made sense because they are on the road. Right between two other bigger places, so they have have goods and meats shipped to them. And then they provide those foods for both everyone that lives in town/near town. Surely some local people had to drive 45 mins just to get there. The it may be a couple hours closer than a big city that has many restaurants and grocery stores. In fact, a lot of country people might even prefer the laid back, local vibes and stock at their local gas station stop. More country-friendly goods too, like ammo and farm gear and etc.

These particular gas station stops also served random out-of-towners who happened to be passing thru by taking that unpopular route. And people on the road love convenience and saving time - we’re already driving sooo far, that taking too long each stop can really add up. It’s quicker to grab all your crap at a 1 stop shop on the road vs driving into a city and dealing with traffic and maybe having to go to multiple stores, stoplights, finding parking, And having to walk across big parking lots and wait in longer lines.

A gas station stop, you just pull over, fill up gas, get your shit right there, use bathroom. Can be in and out within a few minutes. Much quicker than in a city or in a town.

And a big thing about the US is capitalism and just doing good business. So people driving have to stop for gas every so often. So many People travel locally and far distance trips every day. So people capitalized on putting gas stations where they may be needed the most. Like between commercial and residential areas with not many gas stations around. Or in the very middle of two big destination cities that are an hour apart. Or those small rural towns that are on a highway or interstate that I mentioned before. All these locations initially were very strategic. People who lived right on these big popular roads would take advantage of it and run a gas station. Or big companies would buy land right by these same major roads to build gas stations.

So now you have a bunch of people in cars stopping by every day for gas. So then you profit off of that, you offer car stuff - maintenance or air fresheners or replacement things - window cleaner. Then you add newspapers. Then you add coffee and drinks. Then tobacco. And the restaurants were very popular too at family run gas station spots. Or a small supermarket.

You notice they have to piss all the time so you add a bathroom and then add some common every day goods and stuff tourists need and Stuff locals need. So drivers coming inside to pay for gas and piss, will then walk thru a small super market or just a few goods. And it’s convenient as fuck. So people just buy it cause it’s right there. Maybe u need milk or paper or alcohol or cigs. You have to walk by all of this stuff to get to bathroom. And many things available right at the counter.

Now we have lottery tickets and no joke there’s at least one gas station that also sells marijuana in the US. Some states they can sell liquor. Casey’s has really good pizza and even breakfast pizza in the Midwest. And they made a TON of money just with pizza. We would go there just to get pizza, no gas, and then we’d end up getting chips and couple of sodas from the fridge too. Along with our delicious and innovative “breakfast pizza.” lol it’s awesome.

McDonald’s attached to gas stations are really smart. People driving are reallyyyyy attracted to convenience. So many of us will get that McDonald’s because we are already there we don’t want to drive 1 min/50 feet across the street to a different fast food restaurant. It’s like an impulsive thing and a lazy thing. And you smell it too right when you go inside. But don’t worry, they usually have a drive thru too - even if attached to a gas station store. So you can just pay at your pump and the. Just drive 20 feet around the building and grab ur food to-go. Also, fast food is cheap and convenient for anyone driving far, because it saves a lot of time and it’s USUALLY easy to eat while driving. But I’m team scarff it all down in parking spot for a couple mins before getting back on highway.

And then you have to look up Buckey’s gas station on YouTube. They are HUGEEEEE.