European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 16, 1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 9a stars amp stripes special report Normal Mideo unleaded amp super unleaded no smoking shut off engine super unleaded w Mill i water toil air f htn4q? let a it y it its a amps Gus Schu Oetlor business flourishes at the Rhein main a Gas station As american operated cars Roll in for their fuel of Choice a and water Oil and air  profits prop up losing operations by Steve Taylor Munich Bureau shocking As it May seem the military Exchange service in Europe has some things in common with the crumbling communist systems in the East bloc. All arc centrally planned economic systems. All operate without formal Competition. And All set prices Lor goods and services based not necessarily on what the marketplace demands but largely by what some officials deem appropriate. Clearly the cafes shopping facilities in Europe Are Light years ahead of the Barren shops of the East but the similarities nonetheless Are striking. Cafes gasoline sales provide a Good illustration. I he prices paid by military personnel and civilian government employees in Europe Are determined in Large part by earnings quotas set in Dallas. The actual Cost of buying the fuel and delivering it to the customer is a secondary consideration. As a result 24 percent of the Price for a thankful of Gaso inc in Europe represents earnings to cafes. That a five times greater than the cafes ratio in the United states. Brig. Gen. Thomas w. Robison cafes Europe commander said gasoline prices reflect the need to meet profit quotas and also protect in the military sick the welfare of lower ranking soldiers and airmen. The general said he resists lowering the Price of gasoline because he must attain the required earnings. A i can lower no pee of Gas and still make the same amount of Money y raising the prices of something else a he noted. Nirla a a son thinks that would Hurt those that he says lost need lower retail prices in Exchange service stores a Ower ranking service members and their families. If there a a general consensus that the Price of Gas is reasonable then i think id probably say we should wer the Price of Gas a he said. A but wed be hurting fhe wrong  Robison said the cafes Board of directors in dal Las each year sets earnings targets for the worldwide St. The targets include How much will go to the be welfare and recreation programs roughly the Price surveys worldwide prices of gasoline vary greatly from country to country dependent upon government taxes subsidies and the Cost to suppliers. The Lundberg organization in Hollywood calif., surveys More than 13,000 Gas stations worldwide and publishes its results in a twice monthly newsletter. As of Jan. 23, it reported the following average prices per gallon for regular leaded Gas Denmark France Greece Italy Netherlands Spain Turkey West Germany whited kingdom United states $3.69 3.33 1.72 3.93 3.20 2.57 0.46 2.48 2.31 1.13 source Lundberg surveys amps Sharon Kilday equivalent of a net profit in a private corporation and How much will be fed Back into the system in the form of new buildings and renovations an amount a corporation would Call retained earnings. These decisions Robison said Are based on historical sales and Revenue data and by pressure from the army and air Force to increase mar spending. Once the worldwide targets Are set the Board of directors assigns a share to each major Region including cafes Europe. Robison and his stall Given their quota then establish a Price Structure for the goods and services cafes Europe provides. Gasoline sales play a special role in the pricing system he said. Earnings rates Are purposefully set High so that cafes Europe can meet its targets without raising prices of other items. A we look at the Price every month to make sure we Aren t charging the customers More than we should be charging them and at the same time to make sure we Aren t losing any Money a he said. To cafes losing Money does no to mean operating in the red it Means failing to generate the earnings promised to mar. Gasoline earnings offset less profitable cafes operations such As support to troops in the Field during exercises said Frank Hardt who Heads operations for cafes Europe. Robison noted that gasoline earnings Are considerable but a there Are other things that we do that done to make any profit and some that lose Money. A a in be got a Burger King that costs me a Quarter every time i sell a Burger because of the labor wage rates in Avi Ano Italy. I lose up to $ 10,000 a year at a number of Remote  while that might not be sound financially a a we be got soldiers and airmen stationed at those Sites and they be got to be supported in some Way. And so we provide the support at a loss a he said. To a great extent gasoline is the Cash cow that covers those losses. In 1988, fuel represented just 7 percent of cafes revenues but 21 percent of earnings. That year 2.4 cents on every Dollar spent in cafes outlets in Europe went to mar programs. Without the gasoline earnings the figure would have been 1.9 cents a difference of $ 19.8 million