India's rustic mom-and-pop stores make comeback amid pandemic

Neighborhood 'kirana' retailers hope to hang on to consumers post-lockdown

India shop

People stand in a queue to buy liquor outside a wine shop during a lockdown in New Delhi on May 4. © Reuters

NINAD D SHETH, Contributing writer

NEW DELHI -- The Deepak Provision store in the Madhu Vihar district of India's capital city is bustling with more business than usual despite the country's stringent lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As customers, all wearing face masks and careful to maintain social distance, patiently line up on the road outside, the owner orders a list of groceries be delivered by his staff to a nearby housing community as his WhatsApp account pings constantly with new orders.

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