Ashwin Raithatha, Providing Paan to London for a Long time.

Tuesday 29th August 2017 14:03 EDT
 
 

Few of us ever appreciate those shops that sit at the heart of our lives. Everyone has a neighbourhood store that they visit regularly.

Ashwin Raithatha owns and runs The Videoramapaan Centre, north-west London’s oldest paan shop. He’s a cherished community member and it’s time to acknowledge him.

It’s been 30 years since Ashwin Raithatha set up his aptly- named store, Videoramapaan, in Kenton, Harrow. He’s a loved local fixture. You’ll find him in his shop every day without fail from 10am onwards.

Background

Ashwin Raithatha was born in Uganda in Africa where he lived with his parents and his five siblings.

“My parents were self-made entrepreneurs, they owned a furniture business in Uganda before we moved to India in 1972 where they also set up and ran a successful furniture shop,” he tells us after a hectic week attending Wembley with the visit of one of the community’s most famous gurus.

Early Influences

Indian Gujarati families tend to be God-fearing and often find that upbringings have an early influence on their offspring. Mostly these influences tend towards the good of the child.

Ashwin Raithatha recalls,

“As a child I took a keen interest in the family business. I remember being interested generally in understanding how the business works and further, enjoyed the idea of buying and selling products.

At the age of 16, I remember missing school on numerous occasions to help my friend make and sell paan in a small shop that he ran. I also helped my parents run their business and was able to learn the nuances

of customer service, employee management, and understand how to run a successful business.”

Moving to the UK.

Ashwin says, “after my family moved to the UK in 1980, my father asked my brother, Rajni Raithatha, to help me set up a business in London so that I would be able to start my career. This was a natural progression for me, as I had always been interested in running a business and this also ran in the family.”

History behind the name

The Videoramapaan Centre is a catchy name and has a special history behind it. Here’s the store owner’s explanation.

“I moved to London and set up the business in 1987, 30 years ago, and I have never looked back. I decided to name the business ‘The Videoramapaan Centre’ after my father ‘Ramji’ I wanted the word ‘video’ to be included as we were predominately selling videos when we initially started, the ‘rama’ was added as an abbreviation of my father Ramji’s name.”

Moving forwards, growing big-time.

Any business has to grow and evolve if it is to stay successful.

This is what Ashwin has done with The Videoramapaan Centre, though the shop’s auspicious name remains the same.

He notes,

“When I initially started the business I was selling paan and videos, this then evolved to DVDs and now we sell paan, concert and event tickets, fireworks and decorative gift items.”

Quite a sea- change from the early days!

The Videoramapaan Centre is the biggest ticket seller of all the Indian concerts that prove so popular at the Wembley Arena, the O2 Arena, and other venues. How did Ashwin’s store become the go-to venue to see these pageants?

Ashwin has a theory.

“The business does sell a vast amount of concert and event tickets, I think this is accredited to the name and how well known the business has become. It was my aim to develop the business into a known brand, this has been predominately achieved through the excellent customer service we provide at The Videoramapaan Centre, the support and loyalty of our customers and the successful relationships we have built up with suppliers.”

Stars munching paan at The Videoramapaan Centre

It is testimony to Ashwin Raithatha’s service that some of the biggest Indian movie stars on the planet make a beeline for their favourite paan store when they are in London. He proudly states,

“In the past years celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt have visited The Videoramapaan Centre to purchase paan. We have also become very successful suppliers to many restaurants around London and to weddings, parties and events all around the UK and in Europe.

The Future

Ashwin says contentedly, “I am very happy with how the business has progressed and with what I have achieved to date; I am hoping to continue my legacy through the name and brand I have created.”

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“I am hoping to continue my legacy through the name and brand I have created.” Ashwin Raithatha.

 


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