The Choithram supermarket brand was originally set up in West Africa in 1944 by Thakurdas Choithram Pagarani. The elder Pagarani opened the first grocery in Sierra Leone and over the last seven decades Choithram and Sons has developed into an international company spanning Europe, North America, Africa as well as the Gulf, and remains a private business. In the 70s, Choithram came to the Gulf countries and set up in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. Now led by chairman LT Pagarani, the founder’s legacy is set to grow further as the UAE-based chain is looking to double the number of shops it has in the emirates by targeting small convenience stores for the first time and is spending millions of dirhams revamping its image.