Route 27 Profile: Bikanervala Marks U.S. Debut

Indian sweets maker, Bikanervala, has made its entry into the U.S. market by opening a store and restaurant in Kendall Park on Aug. 20. Since opening, business has been good, says store manager Bijen Patel. It makes sense to locate the first U.S. store here. According to the 2010 U.S. census, some 15.3% of Kendall Park's population is Asian Indian, and across the street in Franklin Park,  that number is 25.7%.

An international chain,Bikanervala started out in the 1950s making sweets, but has since branched out to snacks and restaurants. The company also opened a boutique hotel in Hyderabad, India.

The restaurant is 100% vegetarian and features mostly North Indian food, with South Indian and Chinese offerings as well. While most of the chain's locations are in India, the company also has stores in New Zealand, Dubai, Nepal and Singapore. Bikanervala plans to open more stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Store manager Bijen Patel

Bikanervala USA does have a website, but "we're still building it," Patel says. It doesn't yet have online ordering, because he wanted first to focus on opening the store and get that running well.

Much of its traffic are immigrants who grew up with the brand in India. "We also get a lot of Americans,"  says Patel, who moved to the U.S. in 1989, first living in north Jersey before moving to Spotswood.

The core of Bikanervala: sweets

To celebrate its opening, the store is running a special on mixed sweets at $12.99 a pound. Other than that, the store hasn't done a lot of promotion or advertising. The best advertising, along this busy road, is when there are a lot of cars in the parking lot.

"When people see the parking lot is full, they know it's something good," Patel says.

Gas Price Update: 

Gasoline prices have reverted to their old order. Exxon is now the most expensive with Raceway and Valero being the least expensive. Prices have not gone back to where they were before Hurricane Harvey, but they have eased a little. Raceway and the Valero on Route 27 North are both at $2.639/gallon, while both BP stations and Sunoco selling regular-grade gas at $2.699.  The price at Exxon is $2.799/gallon.

Valero on Route 27 South

Let me know what's going on in your business on Route 27 between Finnegan's Lane and Route 518. Email me at lkiesche@gmail.com

Liz Kiesche
Liz, a business journalist, formerly worked for Bloomberg News in Princeton and New York.