From left, Casco Gas & Convenience owners Alpesh Patel, Gaurav Patel, Dipen Patel and Gunjan Patel inside their new store at Pike’s Corner in Casco. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

A classic general store stood at Pike’s Corner in Casco for the better part of a century, most recently named Crossroads Discount for its prominent position at the busy intersection of routes 121 and 11.

The white clapboard building with a wide front porch was a place you could buy gas, groceries, fishing gear, beer, sandwiches and more — all the things that locals and visitors to the Sebago Lake region might need.

Rundown and covered with signs for cigarettes and animal feed, the store closed several years ago when the elderly owner became ill. The town lost its only gas station. The store was torn down in 2023.

This year, a partnership of immigrants from India purchased the vacant lot, built a modern gas station and convenience store and, according to residents, restored vibrancy to a town center.

The partners are among a growing number of new Mainers who are buying and operating village markets and variety stores across the state, often in rural areas where they are preserving the only retail access to gas, groceries and other necessities for miles around.

They are succeeding where many rural markets have struggled to stay open and hire staff in a tight job market, especially if younger generations aren’t able or don’t want to take over family businesses. And they are willing to invest in lower-volume locations that convenience store chains likely wouldn’t even consider.

Alpesh, Gaurav, Gunjan and Dipen Patel — good friends from the same region of India who share a last name but are not related — opened Casco Gas & Convenience in July on the threshold of the town’s 90th annual Casco Days summer celebration. Experienced businessmen, they timed the opening to make the most of the festival’s exposure and show their intention to become part of the community.

“It’s a business that focuses on the needs of the community,” said Alpesh Patel, 59, the elder partner. “We were looking for a good place to go into business together and this opportunity came walking up to us.”

Casco’s Open Space Commission delivered two flowering shrubs as a welcome gift to the owners of Casco Gas & Convenience in August. From left, owners Gaurav Patel, Gunjan Patel and Dipen Patel work with commission member Jim Arsham to plant one of them. (Photo courtesy of Sam Brown)

Members of Casco’s Open Space Commission welcomed the new owners on Aug. 3, when they stopped by with a gift of two flowering shrubs, which they helped the partners plant near the new store.

“It was a demonstrated expression of appreciation for having them in town,” said Sam Brown, commission chairman. “The business that was there had run its course. It’s an incredibly important intersection and they built a business that already has begun to have ripple effects.”

Next door to the town office and across the street from Kindred Farms bakery and sandwich shop, Casco Gas & Convenience has revitalized a town center. Comments online suggest gas prices in surrounding towns have dropped as a result of the competition. The nearest gas station used to be 4 miles away.

“It’s been great for business here,” said Caitlin Harris, Kindred’s general manager. “We’re constantly getting people who stop there for gas and notice us over here. Now we need a crosswalk so people can get here safely.”

STRONG BUSINESS HERITAGE

Casco Gas & Convenience is one of many small markets across Maine that have been purchased or reopened recently by immigrants, often from India or with roots in Southeast Asia. Some of the more rural enterprises are in coastal communities, such as Harpswell, Boothbay and Blue Hill. Inland locations include Rumford, Madison and Glenburn.

Unlike ethnic markets operated in more urban areas, which often serve immigrants from similar backgrounds, the Indian-owned markets strive to sell goods that appeal to locals and actively seek suggestions for new items.

Gunjan Patel, Parth Patel, Gaurav Patel and Alpesh Patel work to position an ice merchandiser in front of Casco Gas & Convenience. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

Many of the new owners hail from Gujarat, an Indian state about the size of Nebraska with more than 73 million people and a diaspora of millions more around the globe. And most have the surname Patel, a name that is prominent in business and politics in their native state.

“About 15% of the people in Gujarat have the last name Patel,” explains Paul Patel, who owns several convenience stores, hotels and apartment buildings in southern and coastal Maine.

Gujaratis are known for their business acumen, financial discipline and entrepreneurship, with strong community and family networks that provide start-up capital and other support, he said. They’re also known for their ability to adapt to new situations and technologies and their ease with taking risks — skills that have aided their global migration and business success.

“Gujaratis regularly appear on Forbes’ lists of wealthiest people in the world,” Paul Patel said. “Business is in our blood and taking risks runs in our families.”

He added that community ties and religious practice — many Gujaratis are Hindu — help them stay focused and handle the stress that comes with taking risks.

Paul Patel was 16 when he came to the U.S. in 1999 with his family. His parents applied and waited 14 years for a sponsored family visa, he said.

“My first job was flipping burgers at a White Castle in New Jersey for $6 an hour,” he said. “In 2011, I bought Jackson’s Corner Store in Lyman. It used to be a little shack.”

He has since replaced the “little shack” at routes 111 and 35 with a modern convenience store and a bank of Irving gas pumps.

THE IMMIGRANT CONTINUUM

Maine’s Indian immigrants are in good company. For centuries newcomers seeking the American dream have started businesses as a way to gain financial independence and make the most of personal skills, know-how and initiative.

In Maine, Jewish immigrants sold goods from carts before opening clothing and furniture stores that still operate today. Chinese immigrants operated restaurants and laundries. Irish, Armenian, Italian, French-Canadian and other ethnic groups also went into business for themselves. And they borrowed from family members, friends and local credit unions to make it happen.

“People will be innovative, adaptive and creative to get ahead,” said Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth. “It’s the promise of America as it has been throughout history. It’s the opportunity to shape your own future and it’s what continues to draw people here today.”

A photo of Crossroads Discount before it was torn down, from Casco’s comprehensive plan. (Photo courtesy of Town of Casco)

Immigrants from Asia, Africa and South America continue to forge business opportunities here. In 2022, about 6% of retail business owners in Maine were born outside the United States, or 178 of 3,014 retail owners who responded to a U.S. Census business survey.

ProsperityME helps newcomers navigate the complexities of registering and financing new businesses. Claude Rwaganje, a Westbrook city councilor who is founder and executive director of the agency, has seen how eager they are.

“In my 27 years in this country, I have found that (immigrants) tend to start businesses faster than native born citizens,” Rwaganje said. “They see an opportunity and they go for it.”

NEWCOMERS SEIZING OPPORTUNITY

Danny Patel’s desire to run a store in the U.S. led him to buy Uncle Pete’s Community Market in the fishing community of Harpswell, near Brunswick. It’s a typical Maine village market, offering everything from pizza and sandwiches to liquor and laundry detergent.

He has made some improvements, but most things are pretty much the same. Any initial tensions about newcomers taking over a local business seem to have faded. He employs eight people, including six from the community.

“If people ask for something, I order it,” said Patel, 34, who has operated the store for a year. “I’ve added an aisle of grocery items and more beverages in several new coolers. The people are nice and we take care of everybody.”

Danny Patel talks with Kristina Strout at Uncle Pete’s Community Market in Harpswell. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

He purposely keeps Uncle Pete’s gas prices lower than inland retailers — unleaded was $2.99 a gallon in mid-July. And he has kept the menu of made-to-order and grab-and-go foods largely the same, including local favorites like shepherd’s pie, baked haddock, clam chowder and deviled eggs made by Kristina Strout, who has been a cook and manager at the store for 11 years.

“Danny didn’t come in and tell me how to do everything,” Strout said. “He just wanted to take a successful business and make it better. Since the pandemic a lot of businesses have closed. There was a lot of concern at the beginning, but he wanted to be part of the community. He’s not just about making money, and people are happy he saved the store.”

Kristina Strout works in the kitchen during the lunch rush at Uncle Pete’s Community Market. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

He has added some Indian specialties to the grab-and-go foods, including butter chicken, fish curry and chickpea masala, which are made at Canaan Superette, a market in Canaan, near Skowhegan.

Uncle Pete’s and Canaan Superette are among eight affiliated rural markets in Maine that are owned by Indian immigrants in partnership with a Massachusetts investor, Danny Patel said. The group includes stores in Surry, Gouldsboro, Raymond, Oxford, Woodstock and Bingham.

While the Indian food is selling surprisingly well at Uncle Pete’s, customers said they appreciate the market’s continuity most of all, especially Carl Peters, a carpenter who lives in Harpswell and is a regular in the modest dining area at the rear of the store.

“Every morning a few of us locals meet here for coffee and breakfast,” Peters said as he finished his lunch. “People were a little concerned about having new owners and them being from India, to be honest. But they’re really friendly people and it’s been good.”

Carl Peters, center, chats with Kristina Strout, left, and another neighbor while waiting for his lunch at Uncle Pete’s Community Market in Harpswell. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

OVERCOMING CULTURAL BARRIERS

Peters said he’s glad the new owners kept Strout on staff because she often acts as a go-between when language or cultural barriers crop up. He also likes the store’s expanded inventory, lower gas prices and the fact that it’s open daily. The previous owner operated five days a week.

Jim McPherson, a tradesman who stops at Uncle Pete’s occasionally for lunch, put it plainly. Traveling around the Midcoast, he has seen other rural markets shuttered in recent years.

Customers walk in and out of Uncle Pete’s Community Market in Harpswell. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

“This store is convenient, they’re friendly, they’ve got good food and they’re still open,” he said. “I’ve seen them close elsewhere and it’s too bad.”

That was nearly the case when Zee and Mariam Ahammed bought Casco Village Variety in April 2020. The 100-year-old store on Meadow Road, near Pleasant Lake’s public beach and boat launch, had been on the market for a few years, said Mariam Ahammed.

The couple spotted a “For Sale” sign as they were driving by while on vacation from the New York City convenience store they still own as silent partners. They were looking for an opportunity to move to Maine and provide a healthier environment for their two boys, now ages 10 and 12.

Sherry Hartley has worked at Casco Village Variety for eight years. “They bought me when they bought the store,” she said of new owners Zee and Mariam Ahammed. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

The Ahammeds bought the variety store as the pandemic ramped up and set about serving a community that was largely stuck at home for the first year they were in business. They delivered food and groceries free of charge — a practice they continue today for customers who are elderly or ill.

“We really appreciate our community and we’ve worked hard to become a part of it in the last six years,” said Ahammed, who also is a special education teacher at Gray-New Gloucester High School. She and her husband emigrated from South Africa, but their ancestors were Gujarati.

Sherry Hartley takes a break between customers at Casco Village Variety. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

“We open every day of the year, even if it’s only for a few hours,” Mariam Ahammed continued. “If a customer needs something we don’t have, we’ll get it for them. If someone calls in the middle of the night and they need something in an emergency, we’ll open the store for them.”

She noted that her husband remembers the buying habits of regular customers and little details they share about their lives, so he can ask how things are going and have their usual purchases ready to ring up. Paul Patel said this brand of “next-level service” keeps customers coming back.

Jeff Parmelee of Casco experienced Zee Ahammed’s attention to detail when he asked if the store might carry his favorite root beer liqueur.

“He had it in a matter of days,” Parmelee said. “I was pretty shocked.”

THE RIGHT SPOT IN CASCO

Alpesh, Gaurav, Gunjan and Dipen Patel all emigrated from Gujarat in the early 2000s and met while living and working in Greater Portland. They have a variety of business experience in the retail and hospitality industries and all wanted to open a store like Casco Gas & Convenience.

Alpesh Patel and Gunjan Patel own the recently updated Friendly Gas station in downtown Westbrook, and Alpesh Patel recently bought and expanded offerings at the Short Stop gas and convenience store in rural Pownal.

Casco Gas & Convenience on Aug. 21. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

“We have known each other a long time and we know we can do business together,” said Gunjan Patel, 42. “We all work 60 to 80 hours a week. We’re here all the time.”

The partners searched for the right location for about two years and bought the vacant lot at 605 Meadow Road from Ron Tabor of Naples. He purchased the property from the previous owner in late 2022, Casco tax records show. He then demolished the old Crossroads Discount building and won town approval for a new gas station and convenience store to be built on the site, town officials said.

The partners pooled their resources and got additional financing through Bath Savings Bank, they said. They are still putting the finishing touches on the new store and its offerings, which range from milk and eggs to beer, wine and fish bait.

Casco Gas & Convenience has been busy since the store opened. The warm welcome from the Open Space Commission hit home.

“The town of Casco gave us more than just a place to settle. It gave us belonging,” Gaurav Patel, 40, said in an emailed statement. “In return, we’ve done our best to be more than business owners. We’ve become neighbors, friends and (community) participants. Our journey is proof that when you welcome diversity, when you give people a chance to contribute, when you open your doors to newcomers — beautiful things happen.”

If all goes well, he said, the partners may buy or open similar businesses elsewhere.

“If we can do it here, we can do it other places,” he said. “We’re always looking for opportunities.”