MEQUON, Wis. — Hoping to convince oil companies to lower their prices, Harvey Pollack urged local residents not to buy gas Thursday.

Not even from him.
The 57-year-old owner of Towne Market Mobil in Mequon, a suburb north of Milwaukee, shut down his pumps for 24 hours, hoping the act would be a first step toward a larger movement aimed at convincing oil companies that an angry public can wield economic clout.

"Somebody out there is making money at these prices, but not me," Pollack said. "So I just thought: What can I do to help the consumer?"

He said he planned to open the station today with one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline selling for $3.39, earning about 7 to 8 cents per gallon after he pays his costs and taxes.

The protest drew dozens of drivers to the station Thursday. Many pulled in, honked and gave Pollack the thumbs up as he stood outside. One woman in a green minivan rolled down her window and shouted "Thank you!"

Maria McClory, 38, of Cedarburg, drove 10 miles out of her way to buy a diet soda from Pollack's station after seeing a story about the protest on a local television station.

"I just wanted to support them and thank them for making a statement," said McClory, who drives about 100 miles a day for work in her Chrysler Pacifica.

Other drivers were more skeptical.

Jeff Bensman, 52, of Mequon, pulled in expecting to gas up his Honda sedan. He said he appreciated the protest but didn't think it would make much difference.

"Most other places are going to be open in the area," he said.

Jack Sobczak, general sales manager for Lakeside Oil Co., a contracted Mobil distributor that supplies Pollack's station, said Bensman was probably right: "The demand will just move down the street to the next Mobil station."

Sobczak said his company sells several hundred million gallons of gas a year and wouldn't be affected much by a one-day protest.

"I'm not sure it will accomplish a lot," he concluded.

Pollack and station general manager John Schwartz agreed on the pump shutdown last week after calls for a nationwide gas boycott largely went unheeded.

E-mails and other Internet chatter had urged drivers not to buy gas on May 15 to unnerve oil giants. But the tactic fell flat as consumers compensated by buying more gas on other days.

Pollack and Schwartz figured a different angle might be more effective. They decided to experiment with the daylong shutdown because "somebody's got to be the first to try this," Schwartz said.

Pollack said he hoped to attract local media but was surprised when national news organizations such as CNN started calling. He said that helped the movement, although perhaps not his bottom line.

"I think it's great," he said. "I mean, it's certainly not just a local message. But then again, people in Chicago aren't buying my product."

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