A fight broke out over shopping carts at the Patel Brothers grand opening in Niles on Thursday morning. The largest retail chain of Indian grocery stores in North America, founded in Chicago, was prepared. After a Hindu priest’s blessing, as well as crowd control by private security and local police, shopping and samosa sampling quickly resumed on the first of a four-day grand opening weekend. The excitement drew thousands, some of whom waited for two hours in the rain.
“When we opened the first shop, it was 800 square feet on Devon,” said Talashi Patel, co-founder of Patel Brothers. “Today it’s more.” Thousands of square feet more.
The original Patel Brothers, open since 1974, still stands in the Little India area of the West Rogers Park neighborhood.
“We were very small,” said Mafat Patel, co-founder and older brother. His eyes welled with tears, surrounded by three generations who have helped expand the family-owned business to more than 50 stores across 19 states, online shopping and private label brands. “Now I am just helping them. They are doing a great job.”
What started as the story of two brothers trying to feed their homesickness and young families continues as a saga that feeds a growing Indian community, at home in this country, but still hungry for their home culture, wherever they were born.
“We’ll never forget that there were days when the cash register never opened,” said Aruna Patel, Talashi’s wife who worked at the first store.
Chanchal Patel, Mafat’s late wife, worked as a stay at home mom raising both families’ kids, six children in total.
“We have nothing but gratitude,” said Swetal Patel, Chanchal and Mafat’s son, vice president and company spokesperson. “With many choices out there for the consumer, they still have such loyalty. We are all so thankful.”
Thursday, the excitement and support for the newest store in the family empire included the mayor.
“We are truly a diverse community,” said Andrew Przybylo, mayor of Niles, just before cutting the ribbon to the new store. Patel brother Mafat, stood to the left wearing sunglasses, with Talashi on the right wearing a vest. “We celebrate all cultures.”
In fact Food & Dining’s guide to the New Koreatown features a number of destinations in the village, including Korean supermarkets H Mart and Assi Plaza nearby.
“With every new store I find difficulties in previous stores and adjust at the new ones, said Rakesh Patel. “I am the eldest son to the eldest brother. I call myself director. I put stores together.”
Family members call him the visionary.
“Naperville, opened two years ago, is No. 1 in size, with more space, a unique bakery, hot and cold sections, more parking,” he said. “Niles is No. 2 in size.” It features a new porous asphalt parking lot to manage water runoff.
How many stores does Patel Brothers own now? “This is the 56th store,” he said. “I counted yesterday.”
“It’s store No. 53,” said Swetal Patel, younger brother to Rakesh. “I know for sure, because that’s what I ordered on the Edible Arrangements.”
“This year, we’re celebrating 45 years in business,” he said. “Nowadays the store footprints start at about 20,000 square feet. The store that we’re in today is 28,000 square feet with a 12,000-square-foot second floor storage space.”
“This is how Indian grocery shopping should be,” he said. “With plenty of room to move around comfortably.”
Except during grand openings, which get crowded. Patel shared one memory fresh from Georgia, just four months ago.
“At the Suwanee opening, I was trying to give someone a cart, being a helpful person, and the elderly gentleman took his cane and hit me saying, ‘Hurry up and give me my cart!'”
Raksha Patel of Morton Grove was the third person in the line of thousands, arriving at five minutes to 9 a.m. and waiting two hours in the rain for the opening. The first person, seated in a metal folding chair, and second person, standing and damp, declined to speak with a nosy reporter.
“I want only fresh vegetables,” said Patel, no relation to the store family. (Patel is a common Indian surname.) “Guar, bhindi, tindora and limes, everything is on sale.”
Guar, also commonly spelled guvar, but goovar on store signage and sale flyers, are long flat beans. Bhindi is the Hindi word for okra. Tindora, also known as ivy gourd, are small green vegetables.
The grand opening sales on staple products are a big part of the Patel Brothers culture, creating as much of a run as the Costco in China did recently with raw chicken and designer handbags.
“Every day I cook vegetables, rice, beans and roti,” said Patel.
“The bakery has really helped families now,” said Swetal Patel. “One of the staples in every Indian and Pakistani home is fresh bread at dinner time. But it’s also the most tedious thing to do, to constantly make bread every day. Now you can come here and get bread anywhere from $1 to $1.49 for three to five pieces, and it’s made fresh. Not daily, but every three to five minutes. You can see here they’re just churning out fresh bread.”
“Currently we only have the Punjabi baby samosas because we’re giving those away for free,” said Michael Patel, son of co-founding younger brother Talashi. “After the grand opening, we’ll have the full line of puffs, including paneer tikka samosas.”
Having shopped the store on opening day, my top pro tip is bring your own shopping cart or trolley if you can, or lots of big, strong shopping bags. Fellow shoppers tried to take my green store cart a few times, while it was filled, with me holding on.
The most elderly and frail had it figured out, throwing their walkers and canes into carts, then using those to work their way through deferential crowds.
Prepare to wait a few times: once to park, another to enter the store and finally to check out. There are parking lots and entrances in the front and back of the building, with three secret registers next to the bakery.
Do note the Niles grand opening hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Regular store hours start Monday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Patel Brothers; 9555 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles; ?847-983-4485?, patelbros.com
