Pemex Gas Stations Are Franchises

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Sounds kind of funny to start back the blog with a subject like gas stations but there is good reason.  An issue came up after an event at a gas station in San Miguel de Allende last weekend.  I am a member of the Yahoo group, Civil_List.   I mentioned that Pemex gas stations had private ownership and I received a slew of emails telling me how ignorant I am having lived in Mexico for so long and not knowing that Pemex was a state run oil company.

Yes, I do know that Pemex is a state run oil company, but like all things state run could you imagine the condition not to mention the service one would receive if the state were truly owned and operated by the government?  Any Mexican national, be it an individual (persona fisica) or a privately held company (persona moral) can purchase a Pemex franchise.  Just as a primer on becoming a franchisee here are some of the benefits that you would receive:

• attractive discounts on the sell of products
• the opportunity to add additional or complimentary services to your service station (OXXO, restaurants, truck stop services, rv park)
• on-site help for the construction, technical aspects of operation and maintenance
• Pemex programs that help develop and advertise your products and service
• open communication with Pemex and their franchise department
• employee and management training programs
• automated processes for point of sale and operational administration

Wow, I feel like I work for the company!  But it is true, it is a real franchise just like that of a MacDonald's but it is state owned.  You can tell by the quality of the stations today compared to 30 years ago that Pemex is a rising company and it must treat their franchisees well.

This ticked me off so much that I felt I should start writing the blog again.  It all started with a group of ex-pats who live in San Miguel de Allende, cradled there in their little niche where few speak the language and grab onto what they think is real.   That isn't meant in a negative way, but as I said yesterday, living as a retiree, an rver, an ex-pat in an ex-pat community can limit the amount of knowledge one has about their new found home and how things really happen.

I remember back quite a few years ago there were debates about the availability of ATM machines in the Baja penninsula.  Well, I wasn't rving there but I was working there and for the life of me I wasn't able to convince anyone that they were there.  Some who had rved in the region for years just didn't know because they were rving in the middle of nowhere and not in touch with what was going on around them.   

The blog will now focus not only on our travels and rving but also on the aspects of actually living in Mexico and dispelling some of the myths that people may have about this great land.

Tomorrow I have an interesting story from last week about my encounter with Hacienda or Lolita, better known in the U.S. as the IRS and Uncle Sugar.