I'm acquainted with the general manager of a local hardware chain in my small town that used to run a gas station. The sense I have from talking to him is, the gas station shut down because 1. Kroger put in a gas station that nobody can compete with, and 2. they couldn't sell liquor (because they were across the street from the high school). The gas station also used to have a successful auto repair shop attached to it, so apparently the gas and liquor problems were severe enough that even the auto shop couldn't justify continuing to operate the location---though, I gather, the Kroger gas station was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Obviously this is just one gas station in one small town, but then that's probably all there is to this discussion.