New York: Did you know that the innumerableconvenience stores dotting American highways are largely owned by the SouthAsian community? South Asians, who literally control the US motelbusiness, are increasingly concentrating their energy in the lucrativeconvenience store business. 

The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)estimates there are over 140,655 convenience stores in the US with annualsales of $495 billion. Rough estimates suggest that the number of South Asianowned stores nationwide is between 50,000 and 70,000, almost a third to half ofthe total, according to the online edition of littleindia, an ethnic Indianmagazine.

This half-a-trillion-dollar retail channel comprises manysmall entrepreneurs, besides multi-state and nationwide chains, such as7-Eleven, which have become the building blocks of comfortable life in America.

Satya Shaw, president of the Asian American ConvenienceStore Association, (AACSA) which was formed in 2005, estimates that there areabout 70,000 South Asian owned stores, raking in over $100 billion in revenues.

According to Tariq Khan, chairman of the National Coalitionof Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, the largest convenience store chain inthe country, more than 50 percent of the chain's franchised stores are owned bySouth Asians. Of the 1,200 7-Eleven stores in California alone, at least 600-700 are ownedby South Asians.

"I really think we are the backbone of the industry.With all the bankruptcies in the 90s of convenience stores, I think Indians andPakistanis are the reason the companies survived because we came in and boughtthose stores," said Khan, who migrated to the USfrom Pakistanin the 1970's.

"All those stores went belly up in the Midwest and when they were gobbled up, they were gobbledup by people like myself,"he said.

So why are South Asians entering this sector? "In thisbusiness you don't need experience - the prices are on the merchandise. Youdon't even have to know much English. You can get by with 'Good morning' and'Thank You' and 'Have a nice day,'" Khan said.

"This business is also recession proof because everymorning people need the newspaper, bread, milk, coffee and cigarettes. If theydon't have a job, they're likely to be still drinking coffee, perhaps havingmore cigarettes and certainly reading the newspaper," Khan said jokingly.

However, for all the success stories, the convenience storesare also a place of nightmares, of armed robberies, shootings, vandalism,shoplifting and incidents of people driving off without paying for gas. All theowners said they instruct their workers not to play hero and confront robbers.