COMMERCIALLY-minded brothers who grew their business from door-to-door deliveries have opened their first grocery store.

Dennis Matthew, aged 33, and Davis, 38, opened the Friends Malayali Asian Store in Cecil Road, Worcester, earlier this month.

It marks a big step for the brothers who started trading in February 2007 and bucks the current atmosphere of economic gloom.

Dennis Matthew came from the southern Indian state of Kerala five years ago after his wife got a nursing job at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The business has boomed and the store, supplied by wholesalers in Birmingham and London, now serves a community of 100 Indian families living in Worcestershire. The store also caters for the Pakistani and Polish communities.

Dennis said: “We do fresh halal meat and vegetables and business is very good at the moment. We keep our prices the same as the markets in Birmingham so we’re really busy.”

Worcester city councillor Alla Ditta said: “You’ve got the credit crunch and all the associated economic problems and here is a small trader making ends meet and extending business. It’s great news for the area.”