Candid Wine & Spirit
494 Washington Avenue
North Haven, CT

Square footage: 3,500

Years in operation: 6 ½ years

By Sara Capozzi

Candid Wine & Spirit Owners Bhavna and Navin Patel had spent almost four decades in the dry cleaning business when they decided to branch out into a different type of service industry: package stores. The couple was looking for a new opportunity when they learned that a liquor store down the road from their business, Candid Cleaners, on Washington Avenue was for sale.
The Patels purchased the 3,500-square-foot shop and opened it under the name Candid Wine & Spirit in August of 2018. “I wanted to continue with the same name, thinking my customers would follow—and they did,” said Bhavna, who runs the store.

The Patels were partly motivated to invest in another business to to provide more income as their son, Vishal, pursues his Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health. The decision to open the package store also gave them a monetary cushion during the pandemic. “I think that [God] has a plan because COVID was coming,” Bhavna said. “We had to close the [dry cleaning business] because of COVID, people were working from home and there was no dry cleaning.”

The Patels have since reopened Candid Cleaners as a laundromat and still own and run it today.
Bhavna said she enjoys running the package store daily, more so than dry cleaning. “This is easy and it’s more fun … you don’t need a lot of staff to run the store,” she said. Plus, she brings her past experience working at friend’s and family’s package stores to the role, which gave her some familiarity, even though the number of SKUs were naturally much lower in those days. “Those times were easy; it was 10 or 15 years ago and we have so many different

with RTDs and nonalcoholic and craft beer now.”

Shoppers often stop by in search of rare and allocated bourbons, fine wines and high-end tequilas. The Patels enjoy introducing new wines to customers as they expand their palettes. “As they learn, they move to different wine varietals … slowly as we talk to them and find different products for them, they change their tastes from sweet to regular wines,” Bhavna said. Customers can pick chilled items in the store’s walk-in cooler and ice-cold draft, domestic and imported beer, seltzers, wine and more. There are also separate refrigerators in different areas of the store for nips and 100-ml items.

Candid Wine & Spirit brings in a variety of customers from both the neighborhood and out of town and has built a strong customer base with its reputation for superior customer service. The Patels have spent more than 40 years in North Haven and know many people in the community, including the town’s front-line workers, many of whom have become loyal customers. Customers regularly request items, either in-store or via text, and the duo is happy to make special orders.

The Patels work to bring a personal touch to the service they give customers, along with an unbeatable selection and low prices. “I was told by customers that they find everything they’re looking for in our store,” Bhavna said. “And if they can’t find it, I always try to get it for them or I always search for an alternative product.

“We know people by name, we’re very friendly. My motto is, ‘Once a customer, always a friend.’ And ‘Every hour is a happy hour.’”