Mahi Food Mart

You’ve heard of happy hour for drinks or food, but one local family-owned gas station is offering a unique happy hour of its own.

As 6’o’clock approaches each evening, many Tyler residents have been making their way to Mahi Food Mart, 4725 Troup Highway in Tyler, to take advantage of a gas price drop.

Every day from 6 to 10 p.m., drivers can get the cheapest gas in town as the owners temporarily lower the price. On Monday, for example, the price of regular unleaded gas dropped from $4.29 to $4.17 as soon as 6 p.m. hit.

But what is the catch? There isn’t one, said co-owner of Mahi Food Mart, Hamza Shaikh.

Shaikh said the idea began at the end of April, with the main goal of helping local residents with affordability when it comes to the skyrocketing prices of fuel.

“I just saw people were having problems and I was kind of frustrated because I’ve been in business for 10 years and I’ve never seen prices rise this high and quick,” he said. “We just decided to do something about it and we couldn’t afford to do it all day, so we just picked four hours to sell the cheapest in town every single day.”

Shaikh said establishing the time frame was based on what time they felt would make the biggest difference for customers.

“I know a lot of people get off at 5 p.m. and the busiest time is 6 to 10, so I just tried to pick the times that are most convenient for everybody,” he said. “We’re planning to do this as long as we can. This would be something special that our gas station provides.”

According to Shaikh, Mahi Food Mart has been in business in Tyler for four years when they moved from the Carthage area. Ever since they’ve been owners of local gas stations they’ve always had one goal in mind – keep customers first.

“We just care about the customers. I’m here and I work myself, so I know customers one on one and they know me,” he said.

Shaikh mentioned with gas prices constantly changing, the business is indeed losing money every day, adding up to a loss of hundreds per week due to the happy hour sale.

“We’re honestly losing $100 to $200 a day doing this, but our hope is that it will help other people,” he said.

By giving back to the community with a chance for others to save money, Shaikh said local residents are giving back to the store by coming in every day and making big purchases inside the convenient store, which is helping the business.

“People are showing their support by coming in and buying groceries. The other day we had someone come in and buy $100 worth groceries, so they’re showing support. Whatever we lose outside, we are hoping to make it inside,” he said.

Those wanting to benefit from the local happy hour can expect the price to change every day from 6 to 10 p.m. Prices are decided based on the everyday gas averages and after looking around at other local gas station prices and the GasBuddy website, Shaikh said.

Residents can also keep up with the Facebook page under ‘Mahi Food Mart’ where the price of the day is always posted. He also mentioned that customers can find the price inside the store where he updates it every day on a dry erase board.

Shaikh encourages people to take advantage of the offer.

He also added how others have been reacting to the offer and his gratitude toward the love from the community.

“People love it and love the price. They’re really showing their support and they’re saying, ‘We’re going to keep shopping over here,’ I kind of love the neighborhood it is, and they’re just loving people,” he said.