A CITY IN CRISIS : Prices Rise, Supplies Fall at Businesses : Commerce: Gas stations and supermarkets report heavy traffic and, in some cases, shrinking stocks. Some firms begin charging more for fuel and glass.

Carlos Marquez looked at the half-block line of cars idling toward his Shell station on Firestone Boulevard in South Gate and said that he would run out of gas by nightfall.

“We’re running low on product,” Marquez said. “Most of our (delivery) drivers are white people. They don’t want to take the risk” of going to neighborhoods where tensions were at a flash point just 48 hours earlier.

So it went Saturday. As residents and volunteers began to clear debris from streets and storefronts in strife-torn areas of Los Angeles, businesses reflected the demands and, occasionally, the opportunities of the moment.

The few gas stations and check-cashing services open for business were jammed. Grocery store shelves were running thin. Restaurants and movie theaters in still-frazzled areas were closed as a dusk-to-dawn curfew remained in effect. On the day of the Kentucky Derby, liquor stores from Los Angeles to Orange County did not receive deliveries of the Daily Racing Form, the horseplayer’s bible. Some suppliers of glass and other materials raised prices to exploit the increased demand.

Albert Vargas, 23, winced as he noticed that the premium gas he pumped at the Shell station on Firestone was $1.43 a gallon. “It’s too high,” he said. “But there’s no choice. I had to come all the way over here from home” in South-Central Los Angeles.

Marquez, the station operator, said that he raised his prices “three pennies a gallon” to compensate for the increased costs of employing five men on Saturday instead of the usual single helper. “We’re not taking advantage of it,” he said.

About two miles west, at Grape Street and Firestone, fully armed National Guard troops watched over the lines outside one of the area’s few check-cashing services in operation.

Returning to his car, Louis Morgan said he was more than happy to pay $7.47 to cash his $435.32 paycheck.

“I usually go to the bank,” said Morgan, 26, a service technician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “But all the banks are closed. I’m just trying to get some food for the kids.”

Meanwhile, operators of some glass shops and service stations said they had raised prices because of consumer need and low supply.

Near Hollywood, the All Services Glass Co. on Santa Monica Boulevard raised prices 25% for repairing storefronts. Normally it costs $120 to board up a broken window, but now the company is charging $150.

“We raise the prices because they need us,” said manager Paul Ward. “Where else are they going to go?”

In Westwood, a Unocal station raised gas prices as much as six cents for self-serve fuel. The manager was unavailable for comment, but one employee, Hector Mena, said he hoped the station would receive more fuel today.

In Santa Monica, students, older couples and even some celebrities rushed to Fisher Lumber Co. for shovels, brooms, gloves and other cleaning materials to help relief efforts, said store manager Mark Piesco.

The company has a good supply of materials and has put much of it on a 10% discount to keep the community in good spirits.

“We all like to think we can pull together in a time like this,” Piesco said. “Most folks are coming in to help clean up areas affected by the riots.”

And, despite cancellation of events at Dodger Stadium and Hollywood Park, area amusement parks were open.

“Business is great,” said Jonna Bartges, a spokeswoman for Disneyland in Anaheim. “There has been no difference in attendance over the last couple of days, and the wait to get into Star Tours is still 45 minutes, so that’s a good gauge of the fact we’re doing well.

“If anything, the (Disneyland Hotel) is packed,” she added. “People who were thinking of vacationing in L.A. are now coming down to Orange County.”

The story was the same at nearby Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.

“It must be the distance we are from Los Angeles,” said spokesman Stuart Zanville. Attendance Saturday was about the same as a year earlier. But he added: “The tourism issue will be felt much, much later down the line.”

The Universal Studios tour, which is much closer to the main trouble zone, was also open on Saturday, but officials were unavailable to comment on attendance.

Many restaurants, meanwhile, remained closed through much of the weekend in observance of the citywide curfew.

Trendy Westside eateries such as Campanile, 72 Market Street, Le Dome and Morton’s were closed Friday and Saturday nights. Some restaurants in Santa Monica stayed open briefly on Friday night before being asked by police to shut down, said Debra Koppel, who works at DC3 and the World Cafe in that city.

Things have been different during daylight hours, with many Angelenos off work early and looking for something to do.

“Lunches are booming, and everyone is expecting huge parties of people for brunches,” Koppel said. “Restaurants open during the day have been jammed.”

Times staff writers Patrick Lee in Los Angeles and Bill Billiter in Orange County contributed to this report.