Derrek Vaughn | The Valdosta Daily TimesUtsavkumar Patel and his father opened a new liquor store on Bemiss Road after operating a gas station for 10 years on Northside Drive.

VALDOSTA — Utsavkumar Patel and his father opened a new liquor store on Bemiss Road after operating a gas station for 10 years on Northside Drive.

The father-son duo opened the store because of its location and demand, Patel said.

He said Bemiss Road is one of the busiest roads in town, and he wants to help service customers in that area.

Patel said he wants to use the store to buy and sell alcohol at an affordable price, he said.

“In the liquor business, you can put whatever price you want, because once you buy it, it’s yours,” Patel said. “It’s your choice on how much you want to mark up to.

“Prices are everything,” Patel said. “When I opened up, I recently found out that price makes a difference. Every little bit counts. People can save $5-$10 if you get a good price. If you can save $25-$35 that can pay someone’s light bill.”

Along with trying to save customers money, Patel is bring more than 10 years of customer-service experience from his time at Khushi Food Mart on Northside Drive.

“Anytime you walk into one of my businesses, you’ll have great service,” he said. “The customer is always first.”

For Patel, in part, this means being willing to special order product for customers.

“We carry all kinds of liquor,” he said. “We do special orders. If there is something we don’t carry, and it is allowed in the United States, we will get it for you.”

And while Patel isn’t as familiar with the liquor industry, he said he is familiar with working with customers.

At the Northside store, Patel sells a lot of lottery tickets.

Patel also sells lottery tickets at his new liquor store, and he hopes to see the same results he has had at the Northside store.

“Two years ago, someone in Valdosta won a $50,000 ticket,” he said. “I was the one who handed that ticket out.”

Patel jokingly added: “I wish I could have kept it.”

But he said he is glad to have helped a customer he considers a friend win.

“I’m happy,” he said. “I’m happy for the guy. Now, he’s been my friend forever, and he still comes here to buy from us.”

Patel said he thinks his friendly service and willingness to help people play the lottery has a big impact on customers coming back.

“We talk to people to let them know what’s going to to help them be successful,” he said.

During the interview, a few customers came in and asked about the lottery. Patel answered their questions, and when the customers joked around about asking for a free ticket, Patel joked back and the customers had a good laugh before leaving with tickets and a chance to win a few extra bucks.

Opening the store is just one more step for Patel and his family.

Patel’s father moved to Atlanta from India and worked there for five years before moving to Valdosta. Then Patel came from India in 2007.

He attended Valdosta Sate University.

“In India, I was studying English,” he said. “So it was hard to catch all the English phrases for the first few years. But after the first few years, I caught on.”

After attending college, he caught onto the language much better, and has been learning the business from his father.

But since the new store opened, business has been better than expected, he said.

“So far the store has done better than my expectations,” he said. “So that’s good. Everyday I gain new customers. If you see a new face everyday, even if it’s one face, that’s good. That’s something I learned from my dad.”

Khushi Liquor Store, 2704 Bemiss Road, is open 8:30 a.m.-midnight Monday through Saturday and noon-midnight Sunday. For more information, call (229) 469-6069.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.