A Tribute To Avi

Avi Gandhi posing in front of the signs honoring him.

Like many small business owners, Avi Gandhi had hit a pileup of difficulties. Combined with the effects of the recession, his wife Bharati developed cancer and was hospitalized. In order to pay the bills, Avi continued to run Center Lane Stationery, his business, and spent very little time supporting his wife, something for which he still feels rather guilty.

But even with all of this effort, Avi's business is in decline and he may no longer be able to balance the books, so he was anticipating closing his beloved store within a year. Some of his customers decided to give back something special to Avi, in return for the personal attention and stories with which he had bestowed them over the past ten years.



So, Craig Dennis and his wife, Celeste, decided to stage a most memorable event, a cash mob, which was designed to buy out the store and show Avi how much he meant to his customers. They posted the event online and more than 100 people signed up. Participants were sworn to secrecy, so this event would be a surprise to Avi. By the way, Craig and Celeste no longer live in Levittown, but on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon. That's a lot of love - and a lot of miles.

On the appointed day back in June, all of his prized customers surprised Avi with a large flow of customers for about one hour, then the celebration turned into a party. But besides the one-day tribute to Avi Gandhi, the video of the event has been turned into a documentary. There was hope to continue the store - and dreams of a new lease. Still, the business struggles on, with the possibility that the store will close by the end of the year. Yet, Avi knows that he's much beloved by the people of his home town, Levittown, NY, and that's all that any one person may really need.

Here's the article that appeared in the Long Island Weekly: http://www.longislandweekly.com/flash-mob-feature-film-avis-farewell-tour/.

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