Once again, Magic Mike's leading the way up, past $3.00

If you saw my TV station's news last night or this morning, you might have seen a quick video clip of the first gas retailer we could find to break the $3.00 mark for regular. That retailer was Grapevine's own Magic Mike's on 2499 at Grapevine Mills Mall.

We've done news stories with "Mike" before. He's very hospitable and open about how he does business, and he's let us in to see how he sets his prices, by evaluating the wholesale price sheets. But Mike has a corner (two of them actually) on the Grapevine Mills/2499 gasoline market. Smart Flower Mounders know, however, you can generally get a better deal in Flower Mound, where there's still some competition. Minutes after I saw Mike's $3.01 last night, I was paying $2.86 a gallon at the convenience store at 3040 and Garden Ridge.

I have noticed one exception though. Magic Mike's seems to raise prices faster than everyone else, but they also lower prices faster too when the markets are going down. Wish that were the case now.