K N Venkatachala Shetty

If you find yourself in the middle of Chickpet, you know how crowded it gets. We are tucked away at number 4 in the Balaji Complex. It’s a small space, but we pack a lot into it. K N Venkatachala Shetty started this business quite a long time ago, and we’ve stayed put right here while everything else changed. We mostly deal with regular customers who have been coming to us for years. The shop isn't much to look at, just shelves and a counter where we spend most of our day. It’s a lot of manual work, checking stock and writing out receipts by hand. In a place like Chickpet, you have to know your regulars and keep track of things without relying too much on computers. It gets loud and hot in the afternoons, but that’s just how it is in this part of town. We don't spend money on fancy displays or big signs outside. People find us because they know we have what they need and we’ve been here long enough to be trusted. Sometimes we run out of space and have to stack things in the corner, so it can be a bit of a squeeze if more than two people are in here at once. We just keep things moving and try to stay organized as best as we can in the chaos of the market. It’s a living, and we’ve been doing it this way for as long as I can remember. No need to change what works for us.