Gas stations as mulch sellers

[gardinladi]

This is my first post ever, so forgive me if I mess up, but every summer this question has bothered me:

Why do gas stations sell mulch? I can see why they sell drinks and snacks and air fresheners, but why do huge pallets of bark mulch for sale surround every corner gas station like some fortification? Why not leave the sales of mulch to Home Depot or the local garden center?

[Tuckerfan]

To lure people in who realize they forgot to pick up a bag when they were at Home Depot/Lowe's, etc.

[Chairman Pow]

In my experience the mulch they sell is fairly overpriced and something of an impulse buy (if something that weighs 20 lbs can be an impulse buy). Of course, it's really no skin off their teeth as they can throw it in a corner of the parking lot and it's not like it costs too much to begin with (IIRC, the local hardware store sells mulch for something like $2.50/lb. 40 lbs of cow shit is even cheaper).