Vishala 7 Hillcroft Grand Opening Attracts Over 3,000 in Gandhi District!
Houston: Vishala opens its seventh location – Vishala VII Hillcroft – with a BANG in the center of the Mahatma Gandhi district on SAT OCT 3rd. “For the first time in Houston, we were giving away 7, 1-Gram Gold Coins to the first 7 shoppers and added Valet Parking,” said Viral Thakkar, Vishala Partner. “When I arrived at 6AM, there were already people in line outside the store! By 10AM, there were more than 500 people in line whom we were serving refreshments since 8AM!” said Sanjay Patel, Partner of Vishala Grocery.
Indeed, the location at 5815 Hillcroft at Harwin was transformed to a Socially Distant Parking Lot Party with Masala Radio. Sunil Thakkar said “It’s always so much fun working with the Vishala team. We have done all the Vishala Grand Openings over the last 11 years. Virendrabhai told me that for this event, the giveaways and deals will be unbelievable…and they most definitely were. I have never seen gold coins given as auspicious token gifts to guests. Vishala also arraigned for 15 valet parking attendants to help park all cars. We want to thank Harry Sahni and Sam for giving us additional parking spaces in their complexes next door.”
Sandhya Thakkar said “As Oct 3rd was Gandhi Jayanti weekend, we thought to add some Masala by searching for the perfect Gandhiji & Modiji lookalike to be present at the event.” Gandhiji (played by Ramesh Modi) and Narendra Modi (played by Bharat Khamdhar) made a special appearance to the delight of all that attended. Gabbar Singh (played by Ninad Gupte) also came to the grand opening in the Masala Rickshaw. “The entire opening was so fun and very theatrical… looked like a movie shooting. Gabbar and the Basanti Dance Off…I just couldn’t stop laughing. The free Vishala Grand Opening show was better than many ticketed shows I’ve attended,” shopper Bhoomi Pandey said.
Vishala went all out with the complimentary snacks & 500 free gifts. All customers received free Bhel Puri, Idli Sambhar, Samosas, Chai, Coffee, Kulfis, and complimentary Mehendi by neighbor Ruby Salon. Virendrabhai said, “Opening a Mega Store in the center of Little India Houston was always in our plans and we are grateful to Rakesh Patel to give us the first opportunity to take over this iconic location.” Shoppers rushed for incredible deals like all vegetables at $.49 a pound. Over 30 Vishala team members and family/friends were present to ensure customers were serviced quickly. They even took it a step further by helping unload groceries to customers’ cars. Viral Thakkar explained, “I was prepared for a crowd of 1,000 to 1,500 but Masala Radio brought in more people than I ever imagined. We had over 3,000 people come in our store just on Saturday. Now I am ready to serve the tremendous local, out of town, and restaurant customers that have relied on this location for so long.”
Special guests in attendance included: Rakesh Patel, owner of Raja Foods and Mahesh Raolji, owner of Jalaram Produce. Priest Hardik Raval of Shiv Shakti Mandir, conducted the opening Pooja and recited Shlokas just before the opening. The official Ribbon Cutting was done by: Houston City Council Member Edward Pollard, Fort Bend County Judge KP George, Trever Nehls running for Fort Bend County Sheriff, Sugar Land Council Member Naushad Kermally, Nabil Shike running for Fort Bend County Constable, Missouri City Council Member Anthony Maroulis and Former ICC President Bangar Reddy, Muzaffar Siddiqui Fort Bend Sheriff candidate. Vishala Partners Virendra Thakkar, Sanjay Patel, Vyomesh Patel and Viral Thakkar then presented 1 Gram Gold Coins to all the dignitaries who came for the ribbon cutting.
Gabbar made a grand entry by demanding gold coins and “hafta’ (protection money) or he wouldn’t let the store open. Gandhiji (played by Ramesh Modi) intervened along with Narendra Modi (played by Bharat Khamdhar) and they pacified Gabbar by promising a Basanti Dance contest. At high noon, Gabbar demanded all the Basanti’s to dance, and a friendly dance off ensued with all participants receiving silver coins.
Vishala means wide, spacious, illustrious. Since the opening of the first location (Hwy 6 and Bissonnet) in 2005, Virendra and Yogina Thakkar have been unstoppable! Vishala II (Katy) opened in 2011 by Vyomesh Patel, Vishala III (Westheimer) opened in 2014 by Sanjay Patel, Vishala IV (Dulles) opened in 2016 by Jagrut Thakkar, Vishala V (Webster) opened in 2018 by Bimal Vohra and Kalpesh Patel, and Vishala VI (FM 529 and Hwy 6) opened 2019 by Chirag Shah. Vishala has welcomed their customers with open arms in clean stores, offering the most illustrious brands like Swad, Laxmi, Deep Foods, and much more; recently even developed their own Vishala brand for a wide variety of products.
Long-time Masala fan, Mala Shekhar exclaimed, “ yeah I have been to all the Masala Grand Openings, it’s so much fun, I just can’t resist. I filled my pantry on the first one and bought tons of groceries for my friends and neighbors who are not going out. Me, I love the mini festival atmosphere, I love getting dressed up, all the freebies, snacks and chai, and I love to dance. Wherever there is a Masala Radio event, I’m coming!.”
All Vishala Stores are open 7 days a week from 10 AM – 8PM. For a location near you, please visit Vishalagrocerytx.com. North Houston, get ready for your turn with a Masala Style Grand Opening! It’s all set for Saturday, October, 10th from 10AM – 2PM at Vishal VI (15462 FM 529 on Hwy 6 North).