After the oil crisis in the mid-1970s, customers were looking to save even a penny a gallon on their fuel purchases. Most gas stations in the Savannah area carried branded fuels, but Jackie and Jimmy Sommers felt the need to have a cost-conscious brand for petroleum products…hence the first El Cheapo gas station opened in 1978. Now this franchise has more than 150 locations throughout Georgia and the Carolinas that “kick high prices.”