K. Venu Chettiar aged 87 passed away on Oct.21. He was a resident of Mylapore for over 75 years.
Venu and his family enjoyed a fascinating small business journey.
His father came to Mylapore and set up a shop in Royapettah where Venu learnt the skills. Venu then worked at the Mylapore-based Ananda Coffee Shop.
He set up his own store, Sri Vijayalakshmi Store on Apparswamy Koil Street. He sold ghee and cattle feed. He got the butter from Coimbatore and Venu made the ghee at home; this practice has been followed to this day, says son Srinivasan.
In 1953, Venu shifted the shop to 161, Royapettah High Road ( opp. Sri Anjaneya Temple) and called it ‘Sri Vadapalani Stores’, named such because Venu was a devotee of Lord Murugan.
This shop sold butter, ghee and oils.
Venu had a great clientele and often delivered the home-made ghee himself.
He is survived by his sons V. Koteeswaran, V. Lingamurthy, V. Srinivasan and daughters P. Vijayalakshmi, J. Geeetha, A. Hemalatha and R. Saraswathi.
The family is at 46, Veeraperumal Koil Street, Mylapore. Ph: 2467 0050, 94430 22911.
