WASHINGTON: Back in 2006, Joe Biden, then a Senate candidate ran into trouble for a remark that "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

Gaffe-prone Biden got away by explaining that it wasn't a racial slur but "was meant as a compliment" for the "vibrant Indian-American community" making "a significant contribution to the national economy as well."

A spin or not, Biden who went on become vice president in 2008, was speaking a home truth as according to the Asian-American Convenience Store Owners Association its 50,000 members own over 80,000 convenience stores.

That's more than half the U.S. convenience store count of 151,282 as of Dec 31, 2013. These small retail businesses provide the public a convenient location to buy daily necessities (predominantly food and gasoline) and services. There is one convenience store for an average of every 2,100 residents all over the U.S. with non-fuel sales of $205 billion, according to National Association of Convenience Stores.

Then there are what have come to be known as Potels or motels owned by Patels from India's Gujarat state in practically every single small town of America.

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) is currently headed by Pratik Patel. It claims its 12,500 members, largely Indian-American, own more than 20,000 properties making up more than 40 percent of all hotels in the U.S..

They employ nearly 600,000 workers, accounting for over $9.4 billion in payroll annually.

But this very ubiquitous presence of Indian-owned convenience store often makes them the target of attacks as it happened in Ferguson, a small pre-dominantly black town in Missouri which erupted into violent protests after a White policeman shot dead an unarmed black teenager on Aug 9.

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Source: IANS