http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15237717977

A few reviews of their chain of stores which justifies the previous thread.

Subzi Mandi is a dump, go to Newark Ave & Tonnele the back of their store looks like a scene in that Slumdog movie.

Indian food chain spices up Morris market

By ABBOTT KOLOFF ? STAFF WRITER ? August 9, 2009

PARSIPPANY ? Thousands of customers shopped at the Patel Brothers grocery store on the day it opened two months ago, so many that the store hired township police to direct traffic for four days over the next two weekends.
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The owners of the national chain food store, which specializes in Indian products, had expected a big crowd for the June 5 grand opening, but not that big.

"Just crazy,'' store manager Mukesh Patel said. "There was too much of a crowd here.''

The Patel Brothers, with 44 stores across the nation and a reported $150 million in sales last year, moved into a 4,700-square-foot store in a Route 46 strip mall to tap into a growing market, store officials said last week. They said a significant number of customers at their Iselin and Jersey City stores came from Parsippany, which is 26 percent Asian according to the latest U.S. Census estimates.

"They asked why don't we open a store in Parsippany,'' said Mahendra Patel, a part-owner of the chain, whose uncle Mafat Patel started the Patel Brothers' first store in Chicago in 1974.

There are several other Indian and Asian grocery stores in the area, including Subzi Mandi, which means vegetable store, just one mile away on Route 46. And officials with at least one other Indian grocery store chain, Bhavani, said last week
that they intend to move to Parsippany within the next year.

Patel Brothers officials said they employed a demographics research company and determined the area's Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese and Sri Lankan population would support another store specializing in Asian foods. Mukesh Patel said the
pre-opening advertising campaign included a direct mailing ""to everyone in the area.''

Jayant Desai, 57, a customer from Parsippany, said he's shopped in the Patel Brothers store in Iselin. He said he and other Indian-Americans are attracted to the store "because its name is famous.'' He said he shops in American supermarkets
for certain items ? milk, cheese and American-style snacks such as nachos. He goes to Indian grocery stores for vegetables not available elsewhere, such as certain kinds of squash and gourds, along with Indian breads and large bags of curry powder.

Mahendra Patel said the company's Parsippany store had 6,000 customers the first day, 18,000 the first week and 11,000 a week over the next couple of weeks. He said the numbers went down by the start of July but would not provide details,
saying business is what he expected. He's already thinking about moving to a 10,000 square-foot store in Parsippany within the next few years.

"We just wanted to enter the market,'' he said of opening the smaller store.

He added that he expects the chain's business to continue to grow this year, surpassing last year's $150 million in sales. The chain's largest store, he said, is 17,000 square feet in Hicksville, N.Y.

"We don't see a recession in our business,'' Patel said.

The owners of the Bhavani Indian grocery store chain said last week that they are planning to open a 6,000-square-foot store in a new strip mall being built on Route 46 East at the corner of Troy Road. They already have been advertising their
intentions on Indian cable TV stations, even though the store won't be ready to open for about a year.

"There are many Indian people there,'' said Sushma Patel, owner of the Bhavani franchise, which has 12 stores across the nation and eight in New Jersey. "People come from Parsippany to our Jersey City store. That's why we want to open in
Parsippany.''

Amrik Singh, manager of the 6,000 square-foot Subzi Mandi on Route 46, said an influx of Indian grocery stores has the potential to hurt his business. He said sales have been slow lately, although he said he was unable to provide numbers. The
dip might be the result of a slow economy and families traveling over the summer, he said, rather than being a product of competition.

"Right now, business is slow all over,'' he said.

Kaushik "Casey'' Parikh, an Indian-American who is chairman of the Parsippany planning board, said he believes the local Asian community is large enough to support additional stores. People who now go to large Indian grocery stores in
Jersey City, Edison and Iselin might be more likely to do their food shopping in the township, he said.

"It brings business into Parsippany and keeps people in the area instead of giving business to other towns,'' he said. "It's good to have competition and more choices.''

The Patel Brothers opened in Parsippany to large crowds, with customers parking parking on the other side of Route 46, said manager Mukesh Patel. Once done shopping, he said they drove back to the store parking lot where workers helped pack groceries into their cars.

The crowds are not quite as large now, but the store remains so popular, especially on weekends, that next door neighbor Eccola Italian Bistro has hired a worker to stand outside to direct traffic. The Patel Brothers store has 35 reserved
spaces. Mahendra Patel said that's 20 fewer than a store his size should have.

"On weekends it's a little trouble, but right now it's enough,'' Patel said.

"In the beginning, it was difficult and very crowded, but now it's getting better,'' said Juan Marcos, Eccola's manager.

Mahendra Patel said his store imports some items from India, such as spices, basmati rice and chutneys. He said most of his vegetables come from elsewhere, including Mexico, although they include items not available in most American stores.

""There are certain kinds of squash and bitter gourds not available at other supermarkets,'' said Chitra Radin, who came from Livingston to shop at the Patel Brothers last week.

Van Tran, 33, of Roxbury, originally from Vietnam, said she was looking for ""Asian veggies'' not available in American supermarkets, such as leafy Phooi and Edos roots for making soup.

One mile away, people continued to shop at Subzi Mandi, where many of the same items are available. Some customers said the store remains crowded on weekends, and added that they plan to remain loyal.

"I'm used to coming here so I'll still come here,'' said Matthew Abraham, of Roxbury.

At an unrelated 4,000-square-foot grocery store called Subzi Mandi Cash and Carry on Littleton Road, the manager said he's noticed a 5 percent decline in sales over the past couple of months. Jasbir Singh said it might be a seasonal dip. But
he added that with additional grocery stores coming to town, he's considering expansion to keep up with the competition.

"A small store can't keep all the items that people demand,'' he said.