Akbarali Stores

You can find us at Parekh Market on M G Road, at number 291. Akbarali Stores has been a part of the Grant Road landscape for as long as I can remember. The shop is packed from the floor all the way to the ceiling with all sorts of different things. If you need a specific type of soap or a certain kitchen utensil, we probably have it buried somewhere on the shelves. It looks a bit disorganized to someone coming in for the first time, but we know exactly where everything is located. The wooden counters are worn smooth from years of people leaning on them while they wait for their change. It gets really crowded in the evenings when everyone is heading home from work and remembers they need to pick something up for their house. We do not have fancy displays or bright neon signs everywhere. It is just a neighborhood store where the staff recognizes the customers and asks how they are doing. Sometimes we have boxes stacked up in the aisles because a new shipment just arrived and we have not had time to move it to the storage room yet. It is a bit of a squeeze to get around, but nobody seems to mind much. We deal with many different suppliers, so the stock is always changing. It is a lot of work keeping track of it all without any fancy computer systems. It is a noisy, busy place, but it is our life.