The owner of three Detroit gas stations named after President Obama says he's sticking with the name despite growing criticism of rising gas prices.

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Sam Bazzi said he changed the name of his stations to "Obama" out of respect for the president after his election, WDIV-TV, Detroit, reported last week.

Two years on, amid a decline in the economy, Bazzi said he doesn't think Obama's name and face on his business has any negative impact.

His customers tend to agree, saying they don't blame the president for rising gas prices.

"No, I can't do that," customer Famous Ellis said. "He's doing everything he can to help us out."

Another customer said there are better ways to combat rising gas prices than just assigning blame.

"More than anything, we need to get those electric cars out here," Monte Harris said. "With that, we don't need to worry about gas that much."

Even if Obama isn't re-elected, Bazzi said, he wouldn't change the stations' names because the president has already brought him a lot of good will and because he's proud of him.