For most people, the clerk behind the counter at the convenience store is greeted absently while they pay for drinks, snacks or lottery tickets.
Not so with Mahesh "Mike" Patel, said some longtime customers of the Catalina Market, a family-run store at 2601 N. Columbus Blvd.
"He was definitely a fixture of the neighborhood," Terry Wimmer said. He and his family "made that place a centerpiece of the neighborhood."
Patel, 54, was killed Monday afternoon during a robbery at the store, which according to state liquor license records has been operated by the Patel family since 1998.
Patel was found dead on the floor about 1 p.m. with "obvious signs of trauma," according to police.
The Catalina Market remained closed Tuesday, police tape still blocking off the parking lot.
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A makeshift memorial has gone up for Patel on the northwest corner of Columbus and East Flower Street, flowers and candles surrounding a message board labeled "In Memory of Our Loving Mike."
The store was favored by most people who live in the Oak Flower Neighborhood, customers said, despite the presence of a Circle K just three blocks to the south.
"You go there for the people, for the humanness," said Wimmer, who has lived in the neighborhood for four years.
Vicky Hisel, who recently moved away from the neighborhood, said she and her husband still swing by the store to shop, as well as to say hello.
"My husband would just run in sometimes, grab a can of chew and say, 'OK. See you tomorrow,' " Hisel said. "And then he'd come back the next day to pay. It was that kind of place."
When the store will reopen is unknown. Members of Patel's family declined to speak with the media.
Police are looking for two men. Witnesses told police one man - described as about 5 feet 8 inches and weighing 180 to 190 pounds, with short hair, an earring and a tattoo on his neck - was seen leaving the store carrying a cash register and getting into a Chrysler 300.
The other man - described as 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, 230 to 250 pounds and wearing a light-blue shirt - was seen with the vehicle, police said.
Both the vehicle and the cash register were found abandoned less than a mile from the store, police said.
Anyone with information related to the crime is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.
Contact reporter Brian J. Pedersen at bjp@azstarnet.com or call 573-4224.
