It [image-nocss] has cost them thousands of dollars, especially since they sell their gasoline at least 10 cents cheaper than any other station in the area, said the report, but Bazzi said they have done it "for change, for the economy, for everything."
Under no contract with any fuel supplier, the Bazzis had the building and the pumps painted blue and replaced what used to be Sunoco signs with the Obama for Change logo.
Sebastian Bazzi said customers drive all the way from Farmington, Roseville, Southfield, Dearborn and Warren just to fill their tanks at the station dedicated to the Democratic candidate. "They love it," he said. "They thank us."
The station went from selling 60,000 gallons of gas each month to selling 250,000 gallons since making the change, said the report. But Bazzi said he has not made any extra money on the gasoline because he is selling it at cost, and sometimes at a loss. "I've been losing for the past three months," he said.
He said the motivation comes from faith he has that Obama will bring the kind of change that could reach the disadvantaged neighborhood his station serves. "He's for the people. He's showing us real change.... "If McCain wins, we'll go back in the hole for another four years.... The rich get richer and the poor stay poor."
Bazzi said he and his staff have registered 680 people to vote and handed out 2,000 Obama yard signs. He is planning a barbeque outside the station on election day to celebrate and encourage people to vote, the report said.
He estimated that the entire effort will have cost him about $90,000.
The 32 year-old, who came to the U.S. from Lebanon as a child 25 years ago, said it has been worth it, because, while he has voted in the past, he has never been as excited as he is in this election. "We need change," he told the paper.
The owners said they will not mess with success, and plan on rebranding more stations, said WDIV. A clerk told the news outlet that the station was in place during Obama's visit to the city on Labor Day and that his motorcade drove past it. The clerk said Obama's campaign called them after to tell them that although they could not stop for security reasons, Obama had seen the station.
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