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How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#171

Post by skookumchuck »

ummonk wrote: post #159
skookumchuck wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Instead the typical means to wealth is inheritance or luck of birth providing access to investment capital The typical means to wealth is spending below one's means and investing the rest. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/style/fire-financial-inde... And there's the book "The Millionaire Next Door" which shows that 85% of American millionaires are self-made, usually through spending below one's means and investin…

Are those actual early millionaires or just retirees with retirement savings?

Early millionaires. The article makes it pretty clear.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#172

Post by baursak »

justboxing wrote: post #66

The story totally checks out. I moved from Boston to San Francisco in 2006, did a cross country drive. Back then we only had flip phone, so I would use my laptop and The Microsoft Streets software with a GPS. Every day, around 3 PM, I would pull in into the parking lot and locate a Motel 30 or 40 miles ahead using the GPS and Streets software, and call and book a room. 8 out of 11 motels I stayed in were owned and ru…

There's a much older and a much more substantive article about this as well: https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/magazine/a-patel-motel-ca...

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#173

Post by selimthegrim »

satya71 wrote: post #53
lotsofpulp wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian food is labor intensive and uses expensive ingredients. Restaurants are also low margin businesses that don't scale well and are super risky, not something I'd advise someone to do unless they have a passion for it and ability to fail and carry on with life. I have not been to a single Indian restaurant that can compare to a home cooked Gujarati meal, especially made by someone who grew up there.

You should try Rajdhani in Artesia, CA if you get a chance. But that's the only one I have found.

Or Shahnawaz, not too far away.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#174

Post by freddie_mercury »

jlg23 wrote: post #75
iguy wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's much deeper than "individualist streak in American culture". Western Europe in the last 1000 years or so has been a very unusual place... one aspect of which is having nuclear families not extended ones. Because (crudely speaking) the catholic church wished to diminish alternative power structures, such as clans. This led to an unusually open society, which had many benefits... with generally higher leve…

Unless you have some references, I'd call this a "nice theory" (to be read with a British accent). Spontaneously: * South America appeared to be more catholic than any Western European or US-American place I've visited, but family and extended family are still a big thing. * Calvinists seem to be much more "open" than catholics to me. * Damn, I want the secret recipe that lets me set a policy and enforce it in vast a…

Check out:

The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama, which has a pretty long section about how the Catholic Church in medieval Europe worked really hard to break up the power of clans. (It is one reason why they forced priests to become celebate.)

Along the same lines see History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church by Henry Lea.

South America's conversion to Catholicism came long after this period was largely over.

Family & extended family in Western Europe and the US is nothing like it is in some other places in the world. Do you -- and 50 other descendents -- take a plane trip every year to go to your grandfather's grave 1,000 miles away to pray to him on the anniversary of the day he died for good luck? We do that here.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#175

Post by mirimir »

I became aware of the Gujarati hospitality empire some decades ago, when my work involved community organizing in the rural US. I was finding that just about all the old motels on state highways were run by Gujaratis. And when I'd become a regular, some would share about their experience. And would invite my friends and me for dinner, which was heaven. Especially given that the alternatives were typically burgers, steaks or fried chicken.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#176

Post by argv_empty »

skookumchuck wrote: post #117
sidlls wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not (just) that most Americans feel these jobs aren't worth their time. There is a very strong individualist streak in American culture and a very strong taboo against lending friends or family members money for any reason. There are plenty of American families who have relations who could easily help bootstrap a profitable small business in the way described here. It just doesn't happen that way very often. Ins…

I believe Gates started Microsoft with a $5000 loan from his parents. Not that "immense".

What valuation do you give his mother's influence over the board at IBM?

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#177

Post by hnzix »

aloukissas wrote: post #156

On the same note, I recently watched this video covering how Cambodian immigrants ended up running so many donuts shops, especially here in SoCal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQLtRRe5EBc

And Tippi Hedren bringing Vietnamese refugees into the nail salon business. 51% of nail technicians in the United States and 80% in California are of Vietnamese descent.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32544343

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#178

Post by [deleted] »

stephengillie wrote: post #3

This model has led to success for other immigrant groups in other industries. > Many followed his advice. “They would give each other handshake loans—no collateral, no payment schedule, just pay when you can,” Doshi explains. Once a family purchased a motel, they would live there, and the family members would do all the tasks needed to run it, from cleaning rooms to checking in guests. That helped keep costs down, an…

[deleted]

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#179

Post by balls187 »

jessaustin wrote: post #168
balls187 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good Indian food doesn't exist in the US. Take a trip to BC, or the UK, and you'll see what I mean.

Dude I've lived in Singapore. You don't have to tell me about food.

Hopefully you made it to Penang then.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#180

Post by ams6110 »

tathougies wrote: post #96
tomrod wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my area it already does. My Indian colleagues informed me that grocery stores that cater to their culture typically have exclusive agreements with local Indian farmers, which results in significantly reduced prices. I thought that was wonderful--I'm a fan of frugality. I'm curious if this is common in the US in other immigrant communities.

> I'm curious if this is common in the US in other immigrant communities. Yes absolutely. As an Indian American, I'm familiar with the Indian grocery store model. However, I grew up in a majority vietnamese area of Southern California, and most of my friends growing up were vietnamese. They had a few interesting hustles going on: 1. A few families were involved in growing produce in their backyards, and grocery store…

Assuming these fruits were not native to SoCal, how did they get the plants/seedlings there? Under the table? I think it would be very difficult to bring Vietnamese flora into the USA through legitimate channels.
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