From unfilled gas tanks to fewer frills, retailers see US consumers
rethink their spending
[June 08, 2026] By
ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. consumers haven’t stopped spending money since the
Iran war drove up fuel prices, but many shoppers are reassessing what
they buy and where, according to company executives and retail analysts.
The behavior changes observed so far are subtle, such as altered
routines for buying gasoline and fewer visits to clothing and furniture
stores. They also are uneven across the population. During recent
earnings calls with analysts, executives from American mainstays like
Walmart, McDonald's and Dollar General cited overall shopper resilience
as well as noticeable cutbacks by lower-income customers.
But the new signs of strain cited by major retailers as generous income
tax refunds helped shore up their sales make some economists and
analysts think they will see a wider retrenchment when the refunds are
gone and consumers face the cumulative impact of more expensive gas and
higher prices for food, clothing, insurance and other goods and
services.
Trevor Chapman, a communications executive in West Hills, California,
said that instead of going to a local independent gas station, he and
his wife now plan their fuel stops around Costco stores with filling
stations. The couple also is doing more online food shopping to avoid
impulse buys, he said.
“Gas is a kind of catalyst,” Chapman said. “It trickles down into the
entire budget. We’re trying to keep everything as normal as possible.
But it’s starting to feel like it’s adding up more and more.”
Well before the U.S. and Israel launched the war, many consumers already
were being more choosy with their discretionary purchases, fatigued by
several years of stubborn inflation and tariffs on imported goods
imposed last year.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported last week that higher prices, not
more purchases, accounted for most of the growth in Americans' spending
in April, when a key inflation gauge reached the highest level since
October 2023.
Topping up instead of filling up
Members-only warehouse stores like Costco, Walmart's Sam's Club and BJ's
Wholesale Club have seen more traffic at their fuel pumps since the war
began in late February, according to the companies. Fuel typically costs
less at the wholesale clubs.
But many drivers are not filling their tanks up, Walmart Chief Financial
Officer John David Rainey told analysts late last month. For the first
time since 2022, Walmart customers and Sam’s Club members are buying an
average of less than 10 gallons per trip, he said.
“That’s an indication of stress,” Rainey said.
Costco members also are making changes. They are visiting store gas
stations more frequently to “top up in between what would have normally
been a gap between getting the tank to empty because of the concern
about what might the gas price be tomorrow,” Chief Financial Officer
Gary Millerchip said in late May.
Meanwhile, the gas price surge has hurt convenience stores, where 80% of
all fuel is sold in the U.S., according to Jeff Lenard, a vice president
at the National Association of Convenience Stores.
A sales analysis by the trade group found that the number of pump
transactions at the properties of 130 convenience store companies fell
by nearly 10% across March and April compared to the same two months
last year. The number of sales inside the companies' stores dropped by
10.4%, according to the analysis.
“When you lose gallons to the big box, you also lose in-store sales,"
Lenard said.
Changing eating habits
Higher gas prices did not stop many Americans from dining out in the
first two months of the war with Iran. Tax refunds helped, the National
Restaurant Association said. Customer traffic at U.S. restaurants in
April was unchanged from the same month last year, although a 2.6%
increase in restaurant spending resulted largely from higher menu
prices, according to market research firm Circana.
But cracks are starting to form as budget-conscious U.S. residents
shoulder the combined weight of paying more for gas and other consumer
goods on top of increasing costs in other areas from inflation past and
present.
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"Buy one Get one" sign is displayed on a product at a grocery store
in Schaumburg, Ill., Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh,
File)
 The price of gas won't help bring
customers with household incomes of $45,000 or less back to U.S.
fast-food restaurants, McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski
said last month. People in that income group began scaling back
their fast-food purchases after the period of inflation that
accompanied the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trend picked
up speed last year.
U.S.-based restaurant consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions
analyzed 14.6 billion restaurant transactions from the last four
years and found that as gasoline gets more expensive, restaurant
visits gradually decline, according to Chief Research Officer
Sebastián Fernandez. The analysis indicated the impact doubles when
gas hits the $4 mark, which it did as a nationwide average on March
31.
Consumers also are making concessions when they shop for groceries,
according to Stew Leonard, president of an eight-store supermarket
chain his father founded, Stew Leonard's. He's noticed customers
buying meat in bulk to freeze and being less tempted to buy the
products showcased during live food demonstrations or offered for
sampling.
“It's telling me that people are sticking more to their shopping
list,” Leonard said.
Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos also cited $4 a gallon gas as a
tipping point that had more consumers with household incomes above
$100,000 frequenting the discount chain. Vasos told analysts Tuesday
that many of Dollar General's core shoppers, who have mid-to-low
incomes and live in rural areas, were paring back their food
spending.
Sophie Tolsdorf, 29, of La Grange, Kentucky, said she is one of the
consumers stocking up on meat when the price is reasonable. She also
switched to buying whole fruit instead pre-cut fruit in containers
and cut back on the rawhide bones for her dog that cost $40 a pack.
“He might have noticed,” Tolsdorf said. "He's definitely a little
bit bored during the workday now.”
Needs versus wants
Before the war, retailers had spent multiple earnings seasons
highlighting consumer caution and selectivity as factors that could
weigh on sales of nonessential products. Shoppers appear to have
curbed their discretionary spending even more as the cost of buying
gas went up, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at Circana.
Between April 25 and May 23, U.S. retailers sold 6% fewer
non-grocery products than they did during the comparable four-week
period of 2025, Cohen said. Housewares, clothing, footwear and
sports equipment had the biggest declines, anywhere from 5% to 7%.
Circana reported that toys and beauty items remained bright spots,
registering at least an 8% increase in the number of units sold.
Location intelligence company Placer.ai, which tracks people's
movements based on cellphone usage, saw visits to the gas stations
of BJ’s, Costco and Sam’s Club stores start to accelerate in early
March, aligning with a sharp rise in fuel prices, according to R.J.
Hottovy, the company's head of analytical research.
By early May, Placer.ai's data showed four consecutive weeks of
reduced foot traffic at clothing, electronics and home furnishing
stores, and more trips to grocery stores and dollar stores.
“Consumers are prioritizing value-oriented retailers like warehouse
clubs, superstores, and off-price chains," Hottovy said.
___
AP Food Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to the report.
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