Our economy is in a weird state currently that has prices everywhere rising. This includes prices on store shelves, as well as prices at the gas pump. To get a further insight into what is currently happening I interviewed someone who has seen and is being affected by it firsthand.

The man that I interviewed is known as Dane Rose and is currently the (Chief Operations Officer) of Witco Incorporated. His company owns and runs a convenient store, liquor store, gas station and is also trying to also get an escape room going. In my mind he was the perfect person to interview for more insight on the economy.

As your time of being a COO have you ever seen any major or slight changes in the economy?

“Through the end of Covid the market has definitely taken a turn. By that time things started to change a bit. People started to come out, but we also saw the start of price fluctuations and the start of inflation.”

Has inflation ever affected your business, or has it ever been an issue for you?

“Yea, it affected everything on a full scale. Every product made from caps made to put on plastic bottles that house something as simple as water or Pepsi. Anything made like that along the supply chain has been affected by a large amount. It’s been an incremental value at the cost standpoint that has been passed onto the customer and has created some of the inflation still seen today”

Have any of your other products been affected by inflation?

“Some of it’s been artificial inflation. There have been manufacturers who have taken advantage of a situation when they see a competitor move up. Consumers and distributors have taken advantage of that, even down to distribution on the level at the cost of diesel. Diesel has gone up a lot, over the course of the last two years and that’s something were minimum orders have gone up, minimum sur charges, minimum freight charges have definitely seen an incremental value.”

Have you seen some products’ prices change more over others, like gas compared to plastics?

“After the last election it was one thing you’ve definitely seen. Our gas prices… some unleaded and bio diesel both have definitely incrementally increased. It more than doubled in some stand points and it’s tough, especially for some people on a limited income basis. You have a set amount of money to spend and now you have to see them pick and choose what they can and cannot buy and where they can and cannot go, based on the cost of fuel. Some products are just monkey see monkey do where a competitor will see another take a raise, then they’re going to take a raise too.”

In the near or distant future how do you see market prices in the economy changing?

“Once people agree to pay a certain price for something, it never really goes back down. In our industry across our three markets that we deal with. We never really see price decreases. It’s only ever price increases. Once the consumers agree to pay, then that’s kind of what you’re stuck with. The manufacturer goes to the whole Saler, the whole Saler goes to the retailer, retailer to the consumer, and all across the board nobody wants to take a cut. That’s just one of the horrible things about inflation.”

Finally, do you have anything you could add personally about the state of our economy?

“Like I said it’s tough because once people agree to pay a price it never really changes. The only thing that ever really changes is more on a larger scale with interest rates. We saw a big increase in home buying over the last couple of years because interest rates were so low, we saw an increase in vehicle buying because interest rates were low and now those are all starting to rise. The people that go into a house like that and you’re paying a higher interest rate, it really affects your everyday dollar.”