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The owners of Powell's Friendly Market open a deli nearby in hopes of retaining customers while tearing down and replacing their old store Date published: 3/27/2009
BY CATHY JETT
Fans of Powell's Friendly Market now have two places to get their "World's Best" hot dog fix. The brothers who own the small, scruffy-looking Lafayette Boulevard landmark recently opened the sleek and more spacious Powell's Market & Quick Deli just two blocks away. The idea, say Dharmhendra "Danny" and Hasmukhlal "Harry" Patel, is to give longtime customers a place to go whenever they begin tearing down the old store to replace it with a larger one on the same site. "We could see that we would lose business for a year [during construction], and it would take two years to get it back," said Harry Patel. "You have to prepare." The economy was still booming when the brothers began their plans for the old Powell's, whose signature white metal sign bears the words "World's Best" next to a cartoon hot dog. They wanted to replace the rundown store with a 9,300-square-foot multi-tenant building that would be anchored by a bigger and better Powell's Friendly Market. The Patels also bought a corner lot two blocks north at 3602 Lafayette Blvd. so they could build Jalaram Square, also a multi-tenant building. It would house Powell's Market & Quick Deli while the store at 3910 Lafayette Blvd. was being demolished. Then they'd moved the operation to the original site after the new Powell's Friendly Market was completed. But by the time Jalaram Square was finished, the economy had soured and they were unable to find tenants for the rest of the building. "When we started, the leases were $24 per square foot," said Danny Patel. "Now they're $15 to $19, but people are too scared to open a business in this economy." The brothers have put their plans to replace the old Powell's on hold until the economy starts to improve, something they think could take a year or more. But they intend to take advantage of the current low prices on land to snap up a few smaller sites where they can sell those "World's Best" hot dogs that have been a Powell's draw since former owner Milton Powell started selling them years ago. "A lot of customers say, 'Why don't you open close to my home?'" said Danny Patel. "We have people come here from Ladysmith, Bowling Green, Stafford at Geico and Old Plank Road."
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