Even after 60 years, Crawford Market store is a Christmas crowd-puller

Raymond Goveas worked in the pathology lab of Bombay Hospital for 18 years before quitting his job to work at the storeIts 830 am on a Saturday morning when we enter Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai popularly known by its erstwhile name Crawford Market The upcoming Christmas season hasnt done much to pull crowds so early in the day and so as we try to navigate from one lane to the other cutting through the maze of closed shops it becomes increasingly difficult to find our destination Its not until we enter the third gully at the far end of the market that we see a beam of white light flash down on the flooring When we draw closer it appears to be just another busy dayRaymond Goveas 53 whos at the counter of Shop 295296 is already surrounded by a bunch of customers In between feverishly taking down a grocery list that is being dictated by a woman he snatches some time out and says he can talk but only from across the counter When we suggest otherwise he requests if we could make it the next day instead Its going to be a busy morning today Goveas tells us It will be calmer on a Sunday he assures While the store sees crowds throng through the year a month before Christmas it singlehandedly manages to block the gully with patrons not just from all over Mumbai but people from as far as Daman Belgaum Karwar Panjim Madgaon and even Navsari in Gujarat And all just to shop for groceries Yes Goveas says without appearing smug when we catch him early the next dayAll under one roofFor a family business thats occupied this part of the market lane for nearly 60 years Goveas who runs Mumbais famous Lobo Stores along with his brotherinlaw Stany Lobo had big shoes to fill when he started working here way back in 2000Today Lobos has become a household name to reckon with From regular jam spreads toiletries to lentils and pasta and noodle variants the wholesale store boasts of over 1000 grocery items Goveas steps out from his store for us as promised and first takes us through his three shops that stand adjacent to each otherOne shop has completely been dedicated to readymade Christmas specials like jujubes marshmallows sugar cherries and chocolates which are often sprinkled alongside the Goan and Mangalorean kuswar plate of traditional sweets comprising plum cake neuries kalkals doce guava cheese among others The two other stores sell confectionery and baking ingredients including silver balls liquid glucose vanilla essence ginger preserve cooking chocolate gelatin flour mixed fruit fillings margarine etc needed to prepare these sweets What makes it different from the other shops at the market is that you get everything under one roof And then there is the Malwani cashew that Goveas specially procures from Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra which he claims is hard to find in Mumbais stores He stumbled upon this brand of cashew during one of his earlier trips across Maharashtra and Karnataka to source goodquality products for his store The readymade Goan and recheado masalas and the different varieties of vinegar used to make traditional Goan curries are all available here making Goveas the goto person among the citys Christian communityIt wasnt part of any business strategy says Goveas who lives in Colaba I just realised that the customers wanted a lot more from their ordinary grocery shop he says The business of change Until 2008 Goveas worked in his wifes uncle Francis Lobos store Gloria which abuts his own It used to be called Lobo Glorias then recalls Goveas The year when he parted ways to start his own business the owners split with Goveas taking ownership of the brand Lobo Before I started my own store I visited places across India especially the south to source for my products I would also keep engaging with my customers asking them for feedback Based on their requirements Stany and I would look for dealers he says Before Christmas Goveas prepares a list of all the items and raw ingredients that one needs for making sweets Every year the list keeps getting bigger he saysIn less than a decade the number of customers at Lobos has risen phenomenally By November end shop owners as well as housewives come in from Goa and Karnataka with their Christmas shopping list to Goveas store However when asked Goveas still cannot explain how he managed to win so many patrons I am just doing my job Goveas says in a matter of fact way and then as if remembering something he adds Keeping your customer happy is a lot of hardwork I dont just stand and sell items I also talk to the people who come and visit my store We even end up discussing each others families he says adding that its probably his genuine curiosity about people that makes work a breeze It comes as little surprise that Goveas who originally hails from Mangalore gave up his 18year job in the pathology laboratory of Bombay Hospital to work in a store I cant work inside one room I am a peoples person Also I have always wanted to have my own business From November end till the day before Christmas Goveas and his staff of nearly 10 people six of whom work full time clock in nearly 14 hours at work with hundreds of customers to attend to every dayThe store boasts of over 1000 items During the festive season Loborsquos sells Christmas specials like jujubes marshmallows sugar cherries and cooking chocolate apart from a wide range of confectionery and baking ingredients Customers come from as far as Karnataka Goa and Gujarat PicBIPIN KOKATEDuring the same period they even push in four hours on a Sunday In between our chat Goveas wife Jacintha gets breakfast for the workers You cant expect them to make their own meals when they work so hard here he says But has business taken a beating due to demonetisation Not really he says Goveas has begun accepting cheques and cards and sometimes even gives goods on credit to allow smooth transactions Its taken years to build this relationship with my customers I need to ensure that nothing holds them back Thats my job