The continued northern migration of the Thorntons gas-convenience store chain into southern Ohio lowered fuel prices Friday along Ohio 73 in Springboro and Franklin.

The Kentucky-based chain opened its latest store at 5 a.m. Friday, just east of the Ohio 73 interchange at Interstate 75, in Springboro.

“Whenever a new competitor comes to a new marketplace, they have a tendency to be very ambitious and much more aggressive,” Patrick DeHaan, a senior analyst at gasbuddy.com, said.

Store officials said they started the day 10 cents cheaper than competitors, including Speedway, Shell, Swifty and UDF.

Swifty officials confirmed they lowered their prices Friday to meet those posted at the new Thorntons.

At 9:30 a.m., regular gas at Shell, Speedway, Swifty and Thorntons was priced at 359.9 a gallon.

“They matched us. We were 10 cents lower,” a Thorntons store manager in Springboro said before referring further questions to the corporate office in Louisville.

The new location, Thorntons 15th in southern Ohio, is the farthest north so far in the Miami Valley.

Thorntons also has Ohio locations in Columbus, as well as in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana.

On Friday, the price of a gallon of regular gas ranged from 3.39-3.85 in Dayton, 3.54-3.89 in Cincinnati, according to gasbuddy.com.

Last August, Thorntons priced its gas 20-30 cents lower than competing stations and 15-20 cents below the local average when it moved into the Tampa, Fla., market, DeHaan said.

“Making virtually no money for the first few weeks is a great way of letting folks know what’s going on,” he said.

In addition to cheap gas, the Springboro Thornton’s also offered free coffee and soft drinks Friday. A “multitude of customer-appreciation promotions” were planned in the opening weeks, according to a release.