Business: Janani
Address: 3075 Book Road, Naperville
Contact info: 331-229-3196, www.facebook.com/Jananigrocerystore
Owner: Shredevi Adaveni
Years in business: 2 1/2 years
What do you sell? “Basically we are all about Asian, Indian and Pakistani groceries,” store manager Jay Patel said. “We carry products to service all of India and also some of Pakistan. We do offer fresh vegetables in the coolers. … What we have, a product that is different from others, is the flower section. That is traditionally from south India. And nobody is offering it in the Chicago area at this point, as far as I know. We do traditional wedding garlands, and this is the wedding season. …The next season is the New Year’s season coming up, so we will have all the stuff coming out for that, the statues made out of clay only, that people look for.”
What was the impetus for opening? “The owner is a Naperville resident for a while, maybe five years now. They chose this place because the location was available and we would (be close) to the (YMCA) and the Naperville library. And also the stores around us make this a busy area for us. It is a great community.”
What is the best thing about being in Naperville? “We have a very, very good customer base. So, as I said earlier, our basic customer is from southern part of India, and we carry most of the traditional parts of India. It is hard to find outside. So we want to touch base on that local feel of India. And we wanted to provide that same sense here in Naperville. And there is a big community from South India here, so we wanted to support that. And they support us.”
What is the biggest challenge about Naperville? “Well, nowadays, if you go anywhere, any strip mall here, you will see Indian groceries. So we do have a lot of competition around. … That is the toughest thing at this point, but we try to keep our pricing competitive to get the customers to trust us.”
When is your busiest time of year? “As a grocery it is year-round, so we don’t have that busiest time and all that. But right now we have traditional festivals coming up. And we are a traditional flower shop, so we are getting fresh flowers from India every week, so that is our big thing right now. This August, September and October is the season for Indian and cultural festivals. So we are pretty busy right now.”
What is the most popular thing you sell? “Flowers. Flowers and the basic grocery store (items). Flowers and snacks are the most-selling at this time because we are having the festival time. And we pray to God with offering food, so that’s the most-selling.”
What is a less popular thing you would recommend? “The traditional Pooja items, that we pray to God, and those are all from India. That is the one people may not know about. There is a lot of product and competition not from India out there, but we try to be authentic.”
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What item did you stock that surprised you by becoming a big seller? “We have a lot of non-Indian customers, people from other regions and countries, so our spices are popular. Some may know the health benefits of like turmeric or masala, and also we carry some organic spices, called 24 Mantras.”
What is the best thing about running this business? “Being a part of this business, we want to focus on our customers. That is what I like best. So basically I see and meet different people from different communities and different countries and cultures. And that way we keep up with every single person and try to give the services that they want to come back for.”
What is the biggest misconception about your business? “That we are only a grocery store. People don’t know about the fresh flower section in the back.”
How would you describe your business philosophy? “I can’t quote for the owner, but for me, my business policy is to serve the customer as much as possible. I don’t worry about profit as much as long as the customer is happy and I can provide them with our best service and they walk out with a smiling face. That’s the one thing I want.”
How has your business changed over the years? “It has changed a lot. To be honest, when we started this business two and a half years back, we had less product, less inventory and people didn’t know about us. See, this place is hiding a little; we are behind Walgreens and Burger King, a little away from the main road. But more people know about it (now), and we added a lot of new products that people are looking for.”
Do you have any future plans to expand? “Yes, as far as my opinion is concerned, we’ve seen a lot of improvement and adding new items to the store all the time. We’d like to have more space and more shelving at some time. But at this point we are OK, but maybe in the future we can shift to another, bigger store or if a space or unit opens up next door, maybe.”
Daina Saleh is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.