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By Naomi Snyder THE TENNESSEAN November 1, 2008
Over the last two months I have heard way to many regular folks celebrating the drop in gasoline prices. Maybe it is because gasoline is usually purchased so often, but it seems to be the #1 thing that a lot of people look at when it comes to summing up their opinion of economic conditions.
I remember the good old days of $1.00 for a full pound of pasta in both Massachusetts and California. Now they primarily or only sell it in 12 oz. packages for no less than $1.79 (at the markets here in Central Mendocino).
...consumers will have to wait a while longer to see lower prices on everything from flour at the grocery store to pizza at the local fast-food shop. Many business owners who raised prices on products while fuel costs raged higher over the past year say they aren't planning to lower prices just yet.
That's because the overall cost of doing business remains higher for a lot of companies than it was a year ago, and while commodity prices are declining, the cost of many other raw materials remains stubbornly high. Stores are also seeing weaker sales volumes.
[..]
Diesel prices now about $3.40 a gallon in the Nashville area are about 10 percent higher than a year ago, according to AAA South, although the price continues to drop rapidly. The average price in Nashville fell by another nickel a gallon for diesel on Friday alone, a survey of area gas stations found.
The price of unleaded gasoline has also fallen more than $1.40 a gallon here in the past month, reaching about $2.46 a gallon on Friday morning, according to AAA South.
Those sorts of numbers have shaved about $52 a day off the cost of gasoline consumption for Aaron Bray, whose Chesley the Cleaner business picks up dirty laundry at area homes and takes it to his Nashville dry-cleaning plant.
But that's little comfort for Bray and other small-business owners, who say they still face dampened consumer demand and higher prices for electricity and natural gas. One bright spot came this week when TVA officials said fuel adjustment charges should drop in January, although they're not sure by how much.
[..]
Elsewhere, while the cost of cheese, an important ingredient for Hunt Brothers Pizza, has fallen from a record high in late May of $2.29 per pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to about $1.64 last week it's still up to 40 cents a pound more expensive than the average from previous years, said Alan Levitt, publisher of Daily Dairy Report, an industry newsletter.
"We're not getting across-the-board price drops," Hunt said.
So, Hunt Brothers Pizza has no plans to lower its $9.49 suggested retail price for a 12-inch pizza, a product that went up in price by 50 cents this summer.
[..]
FedEx Corp., which reported dwindling profits and rising fuel prices in its most recent quarter, told its customers it was raising overall prices for FedEx Express by an average of 6.9 percent in the U.S., effective Jan. 5, even while reducing its fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points.
The Pasta Shoppe also raised prices earlier this year when the cost of wheat flour, a key ingredient, rose dramatically. Prices went up 50 cents per pound on the Nashville business's themed pasta packages, which include such treats as University of Tennessee orange pasta in the shape of little T's and turkey-shaped pasta for Thanksgiving.
John Aron, who owns the business, said that although the price of wheat flour has fallen 38 percent from a high in December of last year, he still is paying $40 per 100 pounds, more than double what he paid in spring 2007.
That's because the overall cost of doing business remains higher for a lot of companies than it was a year ago, and while commodity prices are declining, the cost of many other raw materials remains stubbornly high. Stores are also seeing weaker sales volumes.
[..]
Diesel prices now about $3.40 a gallon in the Nashville area are about 10 percent higher than a year ago, according to AAA South, although the price continues to drop rapidly. The average price in Nashville fell by another nickel a gallon for diesel on Friday alone, a survey of area gas stations found.
The price of unleaded gasoline has also fallen more than $1.40 a gallon here in the past month, reaching about $2.46 a gallon on Friday morning, according to AAA South.
Those sorts of numbers have shaved about $52 a day off the cost of gasoline consumption for Aaron Bray, whose Chesley the Cleaner business picks up dirty laundry at area homes and takes it to his Nashville dry-cleaning plant.
But that's little comfort for Bray and other small-business owners, who say they still face dampened consumer demand and higher prices for electricity and natural gas. One bright spot came this week when TVA officials said fuel adjustment charges should drop in January, although they're not sure by how much.
[..]
Elsewhere, while the cost of cheese, an important ingredient for Hunt Brothers Pizza, has fallen from a record high in late May of $2.29 per pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to about $1.64 last week it's still up to 40 cents a pound more expensive than the average from previous years, said Alan Levitt, publisher of Daily Dairy Report, an industry newsletter.
"We're not getting across-the-board price drops," Hunt said.
So, Hunt Brothers Pizza has no plans to lower its $9.49 suggested retail price for a 12-inch pizza, a product that went up in price by 50 cents this summer.
[..]
FedEx Corp., which reported dwindling profits and rising fuel prices in its most recent quarter, told its customers it was raising overall prices for FedEx Express by an average of 6.9 percent in the U.S., effective Jan. 5, even while reducing its fuel surcharge by 2 percentage points.
The Pasta Shoppe also raised prices earlier this year when the cost of wheat flour, a key ingredient, rose dramatically. Prices went up 50 cents per pound on the Nashville business's themed pasta packages, which include such treats as University of Tennessee orange pasta in the shape of little T's and turkey-shaped pasta for Thanksgiving.
John Aron, who owns the business, said that although the price of wheat flour has fallen 38 percent from a high in December of last year, he still is paying $40 per 100 pounds, more than double what he paid in spring 2007.
I remember the good old days of $1.00 for a full pound of pasta in both Massachusetts and California. Now they primarily or only sell it in 12 oz. packages for no less than $1.79 (at the markets here in Central Mendocino).
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