Philadelphia Residents Crossing County Lines To Save Cigarette Money
By Mike Dougherty
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) - Philadelphia's new cigarette tax for school funding has smokers "crossing the border" to save some cash.
How much is a five-minute drive worth? About $2.50, if you're a smoker from West Philadelphia. Gas stations and convenience stores in Upper Darby are seeing more business because of people like Tehyen:
"I smoke Newports."
(Reporter) What do they cost you here?
"They cost $6.65," Tehyen says. "The same pack in Philadelphia is $9.05"
There are winners and losers in this story, though. The rise in sales in Delaware County comes at the expense of stores at or near the border in Philadelphia.
Jose Tejada is the manager of a corner store just off 63rd Street -- a stone's throw away from Upper Darby -- and he says sales are sinking:
"I mean it dropped a lot, a whole lot. It's really bad right now."
He says fewer people are coming in all together:
"They get some sodas and stuff like that, but now since they're not coming for cigarettes, they go to another place."
Tejada says he is must now figure out a way to attract new customers.