High gas and grocery prices a concern in Butler County
The vast majority of Western Pennsylvania residents have felt their pockets get a bit lighter in recent years, and many are unclear what to expect moving forward.
“It’s been a very big change,” said Dotty Gendreau when describing the price of goods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. “Prices just keep going up. They don’t come down at all.”
Inflation has caused a sharp reduction in most consumers’ purchasing power.
For example, the average cost of a gallon of whole milk in February 2020 was $3.20 on a national level, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average in December came in at $4.10.
But in many places that number is much higher. A number of stores, including local Walmarts, are selling a gallon of Marburger’s milk for more than $5.50 a gallon.
Bread averaged $1.38 per pound in February 2020, but came in at $1.91 on average in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, bread is just one of a countless list of items that have undergone significant price increases across a range of different brands.
“The cost of goods, electricity, water — everything has just gone up,” said Gendreau. “Unfortunately, our salary or our pay doesn’t go up.”
It’s not just consumers feeling the pinch. Inflation numbers have forced even the most experienced business owners to adjust.
Doug Sprankle, whose family owns three Sprankle’s Neighborhood Markets stores, knows all too well what it’s like to compete for business against major grocery chains.
“It’s just very difficult,” Sprankle said, acknowledging that his wholesaler supplies the goods and also sets the prices on hundreds of items. “On key items, we make the adjustments at store level to try to be as competitive as possible. But some things, like these egg prices, are way out of our control.”
The last few years have been challenging to navigate for plenty of business owners like Sprankle.
During summer 2022, a combination of supply-chain disruptions, significant federal spending, foreign wars and increased consumer demand helped inflation reach a four-decade high of 9.1%.
“It was razor thin margins already and it just progressively got worse,” Sprankle said.
To give customers an added incentive to shop local, Sprankle established a rewards program to try and reduce the costs of select items on a rotating basis.
As of December, the inflation rate was at 2.9%. Despite being higher than the Federal Reserve’s traditional target number of 2%, Sprankle said most prices are beginning to fall back to more manageable levels.
“Overall grocery prices, we have seen that inflation start to slow down a little bit throughout the store,” he said. “Other than the egg problem right now, everything else seems to be on a different trend. A lot of the prices are stabilizing.”
As President Donald Trump settles in for another four years and debate heats up over what can be done to lower the cost of living, Sprankle said he’s hoping small businesses like his own continue to receive an equal chance for success.
“No matter what administration it is, you’re always hoping that it’s just a fair slate,” he said. “As a business, 10 yards is still a first down and you don’t have to worry about them moving the field goal posts. That’s the key.”
The price of gasoline remains well over $3 per gallon locally, with latest numbers from AAA being an average of $3.45 as of Tuesday.
Despite shake-ups in the federal government and a host of conflicts overseas, the one constant when determining gas prices is the cost of crude oil.
“It’s more of a reflection of what’s happening with oil than anything else,” said AAA spokesman Jim Garrity on the current state of gas prices. “The oil market is a global one. It’s just not just in America. Part of that equation is what happens in Washington, what happens in the White House, what happens in other countries and what’s happening with other countries’ economies. It’s a very, very global and interconnected network that goes into crude oil.”
In February 2020, the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline sat at $2.47. Fast forward five years and the national average checked in at $3.10 as of Tuesday, according to AAA estimates.
“It’s always up and down,” said local resident David Krznar. “It seems like it goes up 20, 30 cents and then comes down. But I don’t know with the possibility of these tariffs going on, who knows? They said the price of gas might go up again, but you just really never know I guess.”
Garrity explained that crude oil makes up about 50 to 60 cents of every dollar spent on gasoline because it’s the main ingredient.
Crude oil has hovered around $70 a barrel for the last handful of months, according to Garrity. It’s largely why gas prices haven’t significantly jumped in either direction, possibly signifying a trend as the march toward summer continues.
“I’m not seeing too much movement with it right now,” he said. “That’s something that we do monitor though. When it (crude oil) goes up, gasoline goes up, when it goes down, gasoline goes down.
“Gasoline has definitely been more stable over the last 12 months than in the immediate two years after the pandemic when we saw very rapid and wild swings at the pump.”
Experts have speculated that prices of some goods will spike in reaction to several tariffs ordered by Trump.
Trump this week agreed to pause his threatened 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada for 30 days. The delay followed negotiations on Trump’s demands for the North American nations to take steps to reduce illegal immigration and the flow of drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S.
A 10% tariff on all Chinese goods went into effect this week and is expected to affect the prices of toys, electronics and other products.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
