Joe Gomez Jr. also is worried. His family-owned Western Auto Store in Mendota, open since 1969, is like many small mom-and-pop businesses in the city that have struggled to stay afloat.</p><p>Western Auto supplies nuts, bolts and spark plugs, but big sellers now are locking gas caps.</p><p>"People are stealing other people's gas," Gomez said. "It's rough."</p><p>Gomez has managed to outlast a few of his competitors and his sales are stable. But for how long, he is not sure.</p><p>At Ramon's Tire & Wheel in Mendota, owner Ramon Gonzalez has seen his sales drop 35 percent in the past several years.</p><p>Gonzalez, who came to the United States from Mexico in 1978, built his business from the ground up after working out of his home, sometimes going out to fix tires in the fields at 3 in the morning.</p><p>He employs eight workers and worries if he'll have enough business to keep everyone on the payroll.</p><p>At one time, his service trucks were running nearly nonstop providing tires and repairs to the region's biggest ranchers. But Gonzalez lost some of those big contracts.</p><p>They dried up, like some of the farms.</p><p>"Everything has changed," he said. "And we've had to change, too."</p><p>These days, Gonzalez still sells tires for passenger cars and tractors, but he also provides wheel alignments, lube, oil and filter changes and car detailing. He will soon be adding auto parts and doing front-end alignments for big rigs.</p><p>He also seldom leaves the shop, working seven days a week.</p><p>"I want to be here for my customers, especially if they have a problem," Gonzalez said. "The way things are, we can't afford to lose any business. You just don't know what is going to happen."