Actually yes. I don't recall it being a loss leader, but at the very least, gasoline has a very low margin because the gas price market is highly price-competit

Actually yes. I don't recall it being a loss leader, but at the very least, gasoline has a very low margin because the gas price market is highly price-competitive. Store items have a much higher margin (as much is obvious just by looking at sticker prices). The average motorist will not purchase a lot from the store (as seen from your quip about "tictacs and slim jims"), but you also have truck drivers who are much more frequent customers of gas stations.