On a recent sunny afternoon, Aditya Chebiyyam was shopping at Hareli Fresh Market, a grocery store in Frisco that caters to Indian tastes.
The local resident likes to head to the retail spot near a Dunkin’ and Dairy Queen for items such as lentils, spices and vegetables — and that includes a specific type of okra.
It’s hardly a unique scene in North Texas. It’s another shopper who is helping drive demand for stores with grocery options tailored to Indian tastes.
While some shops may be smaller or have hybrid functions, the Dallas-Fort Worth region now boasts more than 30 stores that focus on South Asian foods, with several coming in roughly the past two years. There are plans for more than five new such retailers in cities such as McKinney, Prosper and Allen.
D-FW Retail News
These stores are popping up in retail strips placed among expanding neighborhoods, widening roads and new schools — especially those in the northern area of D-FW.
The shops, often including cafeteria-style options, are catering to the wants and needs of South Asians with everything from hard-to-find squashes to multiple kinds of rice and snacks, while providing staples for religious events and community gatherings.
While larger, traditional grocers increasingly cater to the tastes of the communities, these ethnically focused stores are yet another signal of the growing population of South Asians in the region as they move here to live among friends and community, take advantage of a relatively familiar climate and join companies in sectors such as technology.
“Grocery stores, or retail, tend to be what might be considered — from an economic standpoint — leading indicators,” said Raj Daniels, president of the U.S. India Chamber of Commerce for DFW. There’s been “exponential growth in the population of South Asian/Indians here.”
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Rising numbers are on display in Collin County, which includes parts of Frisco and McKinney. The number of those who identify as “Asian Indian” roughly doubled to about 150,000 in 2024 from 2020, according to U.S. Census data when looking at those identified by one race. South Asians also made up more than half of the Asian population in 2024 in the county.
In Denton County, which includes Flower Mound and parts of Prosper, the category reached nearly 70,000, expanding over 80%.
Across D-FW, there are easily over 300,000 residents in the category as of 2024, according to the U.S. Census.
Nationally, Texas is the state with the second-largest Indian population, according to Pew Research Center. D-FW is also among the largest metros for the group, based on 2023 numbers, putting it in line with the San Francisco and New York regions.
Those numbers mean retail can step in and serve the community — and cut down the time it takes to get to a grocery store catering to Indians.
“In a market like D-FW, where the population continues to grow, it makes sense that we’re going to see continued growth in stores,” said Bobby Gibbs, partner in the retail practice at Oliver Wyman.
Aisle markers show the different varieties of food lining the shelves at Hareli Fresh Market in Frisco, Texas, October 14, 2025.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Growing up local
Take a locally grown example with India Bazaar. It started more than a decade ago with a shop of roughly 3,000 square feet and about five employees, including family, according to co-founder Anand Pabari.
Now, the company has about 10 local stores, and other businesses and locations outside of Texas. The employee count has soared above 500, Pabari said.
More are stores are planned. That includes a new store in McKinney in the coming months, Pabari said recently, and that will cover about 12,000 square feet.
“The area and community is growing,” Pabari said, noting that the site can also draw from fast-expanding cities to the north of that locale.
It also has plans for another in Prosper, which will cover about 18,000 square feet — the biggest for India Bazaar — which is slated for the first quarter of 2027.
Pabari also is looking to grow with a franchise model and is using that for expansion into Fort Worth.
It’s not just stores, but the raw number of items available for customers. There were around 800 to 900 in the early days of the India Bazaar store. The new McKinney locale will have a minimum of about 6,000.
A Plano store includes various types of ghee, a KurKure snack called “naughty tomato,” along with vegetables and frozen items. Pabari said it leaves meat to other retailers.
Shoppers can include those with ties to India and nearby countries Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Pabari said. But, Pabari noted various kinds of nuts and dried fruits draw in customers from a variety of other backgrounds.
I think the Indian specialty format is a great example of where innovation makes sense.
Bobby Gibbs, partner in the retail practice at Oliver WymanSpecializing
While there’s growth at stores tied to India, there are specialty grocers in the region that serve other communities including Latin American and Asian groups. For example, H Mart, which has a handful of locations locally, provides Asian choices with an emphasis on people who love Korean food.
Those kinds of focused retail options are hard to match at traditional grocers who are trying to make space for a variety of customers, even as they might try to tailor a few types of food choices to food tied to other regions of the world, according to Gibbs.
“There is room for specialty formats when they’re able to serve a niche that is not as well served by others out there,” Gibbs said. “I think the Indian specialty format is a great example of where innovation makes sense.”
Another grocer in growth mode is Hareli Fresh Market. The business opened a store in Frisco in 2019 and then opened another in the same city earlier this year. It also has a site in Southlake.
There are plans for one in Prosper in the coming months, slated to be over 40,000 square feet — and expectations are for another in Celina, according to Dinakara Nagalla, founder.
The growth is coming amid the relocation of people to North Texas from other parts of the U.S., Nagalla said.
“Dallas is a very huge, huge hub … for the Desi community,” Nagalla said. “All roads led to Dallas from California, New Jersey, West Coast, East Coast, whatnot.”
Why? Nagalla pointed to the weather — and the economy. It’s a group of people who work in higher-paying jobs. For example, the median income among Indian American households was $145,000 in 2022, according to Pew research looking at national trends. That’s more than the median household income among Asian Americans overall of $100,000.
Large, teardrop-shaped banana flower fruit are stacked in a cooler next to eggplant at the Hareli Fresh Market in Frisco, Texas, October 14, 2025.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
A store with widespread reach across the country is Patel Brothers, whose roots reach back decades to the Midwest. Today, its stores are located in California, Florida, Michigan and New Jersey — along with Texas. Locally, it has a yearslong presence in D-FW with sites in Frisco, Plano, Irving and McKinney. The stores include dairy, fresh produce and frozen items.
Retail rising
Many of the retail spots that have been popping up devote a lot of space inside their buildings to cafeteria and restaurant areas.
Swadeshi, for example, offers these hybrid options that include vegetable and chicken dishes, along with lots of grocery options. These stores popped up in Frisco, Southlake and Lewisville, according to its website.
Another retailer with a hybrid approach is Chowrastha. It has more than a dozen spots in the region, including Prosper and Lewisville and plans for a new one in Celina. It has other locations in Texas and several states, though D-FW is a key hub.
Other stores offering South Asian grocery options in the region include Sarigama Market Place and Chalo India.
India Metro Hypermarket — which has retail operations on the West Coast — has emerged on the local scene as well. It opened in 2024 in Little Elm near the border of Frisco and a larger locale in McKinney, said Siddharth Patel, a manager of the nearby stores.
Another site is slated for Allen by the end of the year as more South Asians move there as well.
Many of the shoppers have families with some evidence showing up in local schools. In the Allen Independent School District, more than 30% of the student body identify as Asian, according to its website. They also make up about 44% of the Frisco Independent School District.
Bags of rice line the shelves at India Bazaar in Plano, Texas, Friday, August 29, 2025.
Anja Schlein / Special Contributor
It all speaks to the growing maturation of the market. Some stores can put an emphasis on a certain region in India where natives prefer certain kind of food — just as a traditional grocer in Texas can have a different lineup than another brand in Seattle or New York.
For example, Patel is a common last name in the Indian state of Gujarat. So, the namesake for that retailer appeals to people who have roots in that part of India, said Daniels, the president of the U.S. India Chamber of Commerce for DFW.
The dynamic lineups are a draw for South Asian grocers.
“Sometimes, it’s purely driven by price, and then sometimes, variety,” Daniels said.
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