Face of the Day

“One of the things that I’ve really struggled with was just being young,” she said. When filling out her application to become a franchisee, she said she had to build a strong case for herself to prove she was capable of running a supermarket.

, and Good Oil Staff

February 3, 2025 . 6:30 AM

1 min read

Priya Patel was only 5-years-old when she was helping her parents in their convenience store.

Now at 21, she’s believed to be New Zealand’s youngest supermarket owner.

“I grew up just playing in the store, serving customers while standing on a milk crate. The checkouts were my version of a PlayStation growing up,” she says.

“Even after school, I’d finish and go help them out with the business and, you know, it’s as I got older, I learned the business procedures, how to run a store, the tactics behind it.”

She went to university and got a Bachelor of Commerce, getting her first full time job in a government department, but that did not last long as she shortly got made redundant.

“Then I realised the employed life is just not for me. I always found myself going back to work at my parents’ business and help them run it.

“My parents, they’re immigrants, they didn’t have education, they didn’t even have financial stability when entering New Zealand, but they’ve made it far in life. And so if they can do it, then why not me? I’ve got the education.” [...]

Since purchasing the business late last year she has put in long 16-hour days, but her passion is as strong as ever.