East-West Times…Information you desire

T
A precursor to this year’s holiday season, Tampa residents witnessed a day and night to remember as the fifth annual convention of the Asian American Convenience Store Owners Association (AACSA) held its Trade Expo and Gala Awards Banquet. While the day events were marked with high level networking amongst business persons across the country, the evening was full of excitement as the 28th Miss India USA Pageant was held here in Tampa. A Bollywood dance show featuring the gorgeous and highly talented actress Neha Dhupia who had flown in all the way from Mumbai had the crowd roaring, AACSA event chairman Vijay Gandhi announced.

Founded in 2005, AACSA is the apex body of the Asian American convenience stores in the US. Over 1,500 convenience store owners and operators from all across the United States attended the mega event to discuss the issues related to their business and welfare. The Florida Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, was the chief guest of the event. State Senator Dave Aronberg, candidate for Florida Attorney General was the keynote speaker. South Carolina Governor candidate Nikki Haley was an honored guest at the event. AACSA chairman Chandrakant Patel co-ordinate the educational symposium featuring information on store licenses, crime prevention, financing, credit card processing and high margin new products. The well-attended event attracted a large number of vendors targeting convenience store owners, Gandhi said.

A highlight of the convention was AACSA forming an alliance with the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo to fight against the proposed soft drink taxes of an extra 3c a can and 17c on a two liter bottle to raise $6 billion in additional revenues to pay for the healthcare.

The AACSA convention proudly hosted the 28th Miss India USA pageant attended by highly qualified contestants and their supporters from 26 States, AACSA president Satya Shaw said. Business owners and all those who attended the day expo enjoyed a global evening filled with entertainment from Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia, DK Bollywood Dance Pak group from Toronto, a performance by students of Tampa’s University of South Florida and the nail-biting competition among Miss India USA Pageant contestants. When the time came for the results, the 2,000-member strong audience was on the edge of their seats as suspense filled the air. Priyanka Singha from California was crowned by Neha Dhupia as winner. She will represent USA in the Miss India World contest on March 27, 2010 in South Africa. The first runner-up was Shivali Vyas, a Tampa resident and student at the University of South Florida. Second runner-up was Disha Patel from Illinois.

“Tonight, as we celebrate the 5th Annual AACSA Convention, we hope to renew the spirit of our friendship and form an even stronger bond with our members. It is our privilege to host this national pageant, bringing the beauty enthusiasts, convenience store owners and political dignitaries together on a single platform,” Shaw said.

The tireless efforts of the following people made this day a grand success: Vijay Gandhi, Chandrakant Patel, Kamal Patel, Vijay Patel, Ketan Patel, Rakesh Patel, Kanu Patel, Manisha Patel, Sudhir Shah, Manahar Gandhi, Jayesh Patel, Jimi Panjabi, Jagdish Vyas, Dhaval Vyas, Nainesh Patel, Sunil Patel, Dhimant Soni, Nalin Patel, Jitu Patel, Ashok Patel, Vijay Patel, Sam Patidar, Jatin Patel, Brijesh Patel, Atul Patel, Rajan Patel, Pradeep Patel and Sunil Panchal. AACSA Ambassadors stated that they were very proud to be part of such a great team. We all excited and looking forward to working together on several town hall meetings, three regional mini-conventions and, of course, the highly anticipated Sixth Annual AACSA Convention on November 20, 2010.

AACSA is an industry trade association representing thousands of stores nationwide. AACSA has been an advocate for the convenience retailing industry providing industry information, knowledge and connections to ensure the competitive viability of our members’ businesses. The diversity of AACSA membership reflects the diversity of the convenience store and petroleum marketing industry and our commitment to developing a robust competitive environment for our members.