New owners of Uncle Pete’s expand hours, aim to ‘help the community’

Uncle Pete’s Community Market has new owners who are keeping the store open seven days a week instead of five.

The Patel family — Sky, Mike, M.P. and Annie — immediately made the change after buying the market next to the post office on Harpswell Neck Road.

“So many have told us they have to go so far for groceries,” said Annie, 24, a petite woman with long brown hair. The family lives in Brunswick. They bought the store on Jan. 8 from Pete Arnold, who retired after owning it for almost three years. Arnold said he wanted to travel and have a personal life instead of working long hours.

The Patels said the store won’t be a supermarket, but once they get their feet on the ground, they plan to expand their product lines by adding deli items, baked goods and more tobacco products.

They’ll still have a coffee bar in the rear of the market and breakfast and lunch items from their kitchen. And they’ll continue selling gasoline at the 1989-model pumps in front of the store.

“I’m here to help the community,” said Sky, parroting Pete Arnold’s wish to sell to buyers who shared his vision for a community gathering place and wouldn’t change its name.

Sky, 22, a trim man with a beard who was wearing a bright gold sweatshirt, said the store will stay open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. Those hours may change in the summer to accommodate the community, he added.

The Patels moved to the U.S. from Gujarat, India, home to Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gujarat also has the largest statue in the world, one that’s 597 feet tall and dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, an architect of independent India. Patel is a common name in Gujarat, whose language is Gujarati — a language spoken in five of India’s 28 states.

The Uncle Pete’s Patels are Mahendra “Mike,” 47, his son Akash “Sky,” daughter Avani “Annie,” and brother Mukesh “M.P.,” 45.

They’ve been in the U.S. for nine years — seven in Queens, New York; two in Orlando, Florida; and now Maine. They left India because part of their extended family lives here and owns stores in New England.

The Patels owned a similar store in Orlando. Mike learned that Uncle Pete’s was for sale from his good friend Nick Patel, no relation, in Augusta.

“The Patel community are hard workers over all the USA,” said Mike, a tall man with dark hair, black glasses and a big smile.

The family is committed to serving Harpswell residents. “They’re my temple, and the customers are my god,” Mike said.

The Patels are gregarious and it was obvious on the first Sunday in January that they aim to please, especially by being open daily.

“I was getting hungry,” said Chandler Field, who bought pepperoni pizza from the glass display at the front of the store. Field works for his father, who owns Integrity Roofing, and he and a colleague were taking a break from repairing roofs after the January storms.

“It’s some of the best food in the area,” said Field, who lives in Woolwich but frequents the market when working in Harpswell.

Colby Barnes and his mother, Darlene Barnes, ate lunch at one of the small tables at the back of the store. “It’s good they’re open every day,” said Colby Barnes, a lobsterman whose family roots go back 450 years here. He ate chips and sipped water while commiserating with fellow lobsterman Brian Moody.

Colby Barnes’ 34-foot lobster boat, Savage, was damaged in the storm. He was waiting for his insurance company to determine if the boat could be salvaged.

Stephanie Alexander said she wished Arnold hadn’t sold, but she’s glad the market is open seven days a week. “I wouldn’t blame you for closing on Sunday,” she told Mike, who was standing behind the counter.

Karin Dionne, another customer happy to meet the Patels, had walked into the store a few days earlier to drop off her credit card before pumping gas. “Welcome to the neighborhood,” she said with a smile.

Connie Sage Conner is a retired editor of The Virginian-Pilot. She lives in Harpswell and serves on the Harpswell News Board of Directors.