Cotton Street chain doesn't forget the neighborhood

A story telling how entrepreneurs from other countries work hard, save their money and start businesses serving their own communities. DP

Cotton Street chain doesn't forget the neighborhood: Indian immigrants who own three stores in a seven-block area in southeast Reading offer Polish, Latino and their own native foods.

TMCnet : There might seem a vast cultural chasm between operating three food stores on Cotton Street and running an auto-parts business in New Delhi, India. But when Balbir Singh Chandhok immigrated to the United States about 15 years ago -- leaving his brother to run the auto-parts firm -- he worked in an Edison, N.J., convenience store.

"That gave me the good experience in the food line," said Chandhok, 42, who on Jan. 1 opened his newest venture, Citi Food Market, at 1731 Cotton St.

Chandhok, partnering with fellow Indian immigrants Harry Guleria, 40, and Raj Singh, 27, both city residents, transformed the 3,500-square-foot abandoned building -- once an oldtime movie theater -- into what he hopes is an attractive neighborhood market with more offerings than the typical corner grocery store.

"We invested about $300,000 in a boarded property," said Chandhok, 42, an Exeter Township resident. "This is basically a bigger place and more variety."

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