Patel Calico Stores

If you head down to Raopura, specifically the 3rd Main Road near Jubilee Garden, you’ll find us. Patel Calico Stores is right opposite the Amdavadi Pole. It’s an old part of town, and our shop feels a bit like that too. We’ve been in this spot for quite a long time, selling basic cloth and whatever else people around here need for their sewing. The shop is narrow and goes back further than you’d think from looking at the front. My father started things here, and now I’m the one opening up the shutters every morning. We don’t have fancy displays or bright lights. It’s just stacks of cotton and calico on wooden racks that have been there since I was a kid. The area around Jubilee Garden gets pretty crowded with people going to the park or running errands. We get a lot of regulars who stop by just to say hello while they’re out. The floorboards creak a bit and the paint is peeling in some corners, but it’s home to us. We handle the daily sales ourselves, cutting fabric by hand and wrapping it in brown paper. It’s a simple way to make a living, and we like the routine of it. No big corporate plans here, just keeping the shop going day by day in Raopura.