Aarthi Stores

Aarthi Stores has been at No 37 East Marret Street for a long time. We are right near the big water tank in Madurai. This is a very old part of the city, so the streets are narrow and always full of people. Our shop is a traditional one. We stock a lot of things for the kitchen like tamarind, dried chillies, and different types of rice. The air here always smells like spices because we keep them in open bags sometimes. It’s a family-run place. My father started it and now I help out too. We don't have any air conditioning, just the breeze from the door when it's not too crowded. Customers come from all over this area because they trust the grains we sell here. We don't do any big promotions or sales. We just sell things at a fair price. Sometimes the cows walk right past the front door, that's just how Madurai is. It’s a noisy, busy place but we are used to it. The water tank is a good landmark if you are trying to find us. We open early in the morning and close once the street gets quiet at night. It's a simple life running a store like this. We know almost everyone who walks in by their first name. We spend a lot of time weighing out lentils and packing them in paper bags for the regulars who come every week to stock up on their cooking needs.