Sri Vijaya Lakshmi General Stores

If you are around Navodaya Colony in Vijayawada, you might have seen Sri Vijaya Lakshmi General Stores. Our address is D No: 60-1-7. It’s a standard neighborhood shop that serves the families living nearby in the 520001 area. We don’t have a big team or anything, just a few of us making sure the pulses are weighed correctly and the milk doesn't sit out too long. The shelves are filled with all sorts of things, from cooking oils to little packets of biscuits that the school kids like to buy on their way home. The floors are stone and stay relatively cool, which is nice during the hotter months. We have a regular routine of opening early and sweeping the front step before the first customers arrive. It’s not a glamorous job, but it is steady. Sometimes we have to move boxes around to find what someone is looking for, and the place can look a bit cluttered when a new delivery arrives. But that’s just part of running a small store. We recognize most of the people who come in because they live just down the street. We don’t spend money on advertising or anything like that. People just know we are here at D No: 60-1-7 when they run out of salt or sugar. It’s a very normal part of the colony life, and we are happy to keep things going day after day without much fuss or any complicated systems.