The three fixtures of South Asian life in America: a temple, a mosque and … Patel Brothers?
It’s true. In September, the ethnic grocery chain commemorates the 50th anniversary of its first store, which opened along Devon Avenue in Chicago. Today, it boasts 52 stores across the United States.
Last month, I interviewed the scion of the family business, Swetal Patel, the son and nephew of the two brothers who founded the company. He met with me and video producer Shreen Khan in the recently renovated Chicago location and took stock of how they built the grocery empire and lessons learned along the way.
We met the exact same week that tens of thousands of people descended upon the city for the Democratic National Convention, and reflected on this timing: just a few miles away, in a matter of a few hours, the daughter of an Indian immigrant would take the stage and accept the nomination for the presidency.
Indeed, Patel Brothers’ growth reflects the growth and ascent of a community. “When the business started back in September of 1974, the brothers had a small footprint 900-square foot store,” Swetal Patel says. “Little did they realize that 50 years later, it would be North America’s premier retailer of South Asian food products. What started as a small dream, is now what the American dream is.”
Patel Brothers is known not just for the tastes of home – South Asian countries, usually, although many stores draw immigrants of all hues and backgrounds – but fresh produce and staples, too. The locations of Patel Brothers follow the South Asian diaspora’s growth; Indians now outnumber Chinese in the United States, for example.
Swetal’s father, Mafat, arrived in the U.S. to study engineering in Indiana and eventually settled in Chicago. His brother, Tulsi, arrived years later and worked in a factory; notably the pair of brothers were married to a pair of sisters. Patel Brothers remains privately held, and the family tree is intertwined in all aspects of the business. Celebrations to mark the half-century it’s been around will be as understated as its owners, who still stock shelves and bag groceries. Patel Brothers plans to pass deep discounts onto customers, to thank them for their patronage.
Their customer base spans immigrants old and new. As we wrapped up our interview, I thanked Swetal Patel for the gift of home he has given our family in all the places we have lived: Jackson Heights, Queens, to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to multiple locations in central New Jersey. I told him my father emigrated from India the same exact year as his: 1971. About to turn 85, he’s slowing down now yet somehow brightens and quickens pace when my brother takes him on a monthly trip to a massive Patel Brothers in East Windsor, N.J.
“It’s like his favorite pastime,” I told Swetal.
“It’s a favorite pastime of a lot of elderly. You have a sense of home,” he says. “What happens at Patel Brothers, that’s why it is what it is. It’s a sense of community when you come into this store.”
You can check out URL Media’s video here.
