Kolkata’s kirana lanes — and why this is only the tip of the iceberg

These photographs are from a real SuperKirana site survey in Kolkata — Jaiswal Food Store, Sovabazar Market — a traditional kirana being studied for a smart retail transform. I am sharing them here because they show something larger than one shop.

Road-facing frontage — the proposed SuperKirana entrance zone

Neighbourhood market street outside the store

Who I am

I am Kunwer Sachdev — founder of Su-Kam Power Systems, often called India’s “Inverter Man.” I grew up around a small kirana in Shivaji Park, Punjabi Bagh. My father ran that shop on trust, memory, and a dog-eared udhaar notebook. Decades later, after building Su-Kam into a company that reached homes in more than 70 countries, I came back to the same problem: the corner shopkeeper still runs on paper while the malls get the machines.

You can read more of my journey on kunwersachdev.com and follow updates on LinkedIn.

That is why I built Kirana बीजक — billing, GST, stock and udhaar on a phone — and why I partner with networks like SuperKirana that are upgrading kirana stores street by street.

Blue wooden gate section proposed as primary customer entrance

Connected frontage and adjoining road-facing space

What these pictures show

A busy traditional market. Road visibility. Pedestrian flow. An existing grocery habit in the catchment. The survey team’s job was not to invent demand — it was to see whether organised merchandising, branding, lighting, digital billing and local delivery can upgrade an experience that already exists.

This is the tip of the iceberg.

One Kolkata store. One franchisee. One survey pack. Behind it sits a whole country of kirana shops waiting for the same dignity — a clean façade, a clear assortment, a bill that prints GST correctly, and an udhaar khata that does not live only in someone’s head.

Ceiling, beams and wall condition under review

Floor and circulation before measured layout

Why SuperKirana matters here

SuperKirana is building a community of upgraded neighbourhood stores — black-and-yellow brand language, organised grocery, and a path from traditional kirana to a smarter retail format. Their site work in places like Sovabazar is how transformation actually happens: not in a boardroom slide, but on a road-facing gate, a cracked wall, and a shopkeeper ready to change.

Explore the network, franchise path and store stories at superkirana.in — and see how phone-first billing for the same shopkeeper works on kiranarating.com.

Site context — the market that will walk through the new entrance

This is the tip of the iceberg.

Every photograph in this set is a reminder: India’s retail backbone is still the kirana. Modern tools — from store design to phone billing — are only beginning to reach him. What you see in Kolkata is one door opening. Thousands more are waiting.

Who I am

What these pictures show

Why SuperKirana matters here

Further reading