Rajesh Patel

Job … Manager of The Newsroom, a newsstand/general store on Front Street. Patel’s family opened the business seven years ago. He’s worked at the store for the past three.

Home … I live in Ashland. I have a 3-year-old son and another on the way.

For a store called the Newsroom, you don’t carry many publications. Why? … We don’t have many magazines left because we couldn’t sell them. We used to have them from there to there (Patel points to the one magazine rack on the floor and gestures to the end of the store’s back wall).

What does that mean dollar-wise? … We used to have $20,000-worth of inventory of magazines, but right now it’s down to $1,000. We used to sell books too, but books never sold, so we just got rid of them right away. The magazines are just too much work and there’s not much margin on it at all.

When did people stop buying the magazines? … That started four years ago.

What publication is your bestseller? … The T&G and the Boston Herald.

It sounds as if you don’t like dealing with the newspapers. Why? … The thing is the store does not make any money on them. The pain is that people usually steal them after they are delivered and before we come to the store. We can’t do anything, and it’s just a pain. That happens a lot.

What do you do about it? … Sometimes if people keep grabbing [papers] on a regular basis, then what we’ll do is come about four o’clock in the morning and stand on the other side of the street near city hall and watch and when someone comes in to grab it we catch them. Sometimes we’ve caught them three or four times, but people in Worcester don’t care. They come again.

What’s the most bizarre thing anyone’s ever tried to steal? … Last week someone came in and took a piece of wood from the magazine rack. He just took it off and walked out. He didn’t even tell us anything. I went outside and I said, “What are you doing?” He said he needed that piece of wood. I told him that he couldn’t just take it and leave. He started swearing at me. I told him I was going to call the cops, and he said, “I’m right here.” I mean he didn’t care.

So if you’re not making money on publications, how do you survive? … Most business is from cigarettes and the lottery and some soda and stuff. We also have calling cards that a lot of African people buy.

Where did you live before coming to Worcester? … We actually moved from Philadelphia to here to get a business. At that time the economy was good here in 2000, so we started a business here on Main Street, the Hallmark Store, then we took over this one.

So was the move worth it? … In the beginning yes. We were doing very well in the beginning, but business dies down a little bit every year.

What did you do in Philadelphia? … We used to work in Dunkin’ Donuts.

If customers don’t buy magazines, is there anything they would like to see more of? … People keep telling me I should change the store to a dollar store, like a variety store. A lot of people have said that.

What do you think of the idea? … I’m thinking on it. I haven’t made any decisions yet. We’ll see what happens. I’ve done a little bit of it [Patel’s store carries multiple, incongruous items from candy to knives]. Some people are telling me to turn it into a grocery store, but I can’t do that because people downtown who come by bus won’t bring their groceries from here to home on the bus.

What do you like about doing business on Front Street? … The foot traffic and the bus stop keeps us going. If there was no bus stop, we would have been closed a long time ago.

What is your favorite thing about your job? … I have my job here. I can just make a living. That’s my favorite thing. I can’t really ask for anything more right now. o