Throwback Pop Pricing at Les Schwab Tires

I *never* thought I’d see a 75 cent can of Diet Coke in a vending machine again, and yet there is was – plain as day – as I rounded the corner in the Les Schwab Tire Center store on 122nd Avenue in NE Portland last month. I was so tickled at the time that I took this  picture and decided to write it up. Just now getting around to it, so call me a slacker. Ha-ha. It was just refreshing to see that they are not trying to gouge their customers by charging a ridiculous mark up on something as simple as a can of pop. In fact, if they buy it by the case at Costco or some other wholesale place, they are likely getting close to a 100% mark up on it as it stands. Now I am the last person you’ll hear say something stupid like they don’t have the right to charge what they want, or that a 300% gross margin is too high. No way. They are clearly comfortable with a 45-50% gross margin on the pop they sell. And I bet they sell a lot of it at these prices from yesteryear.