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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING 50 YEARS OF THE PATEL BROTHERS GROCERY STORE CHAIN
WHEREAS, Patel Brothers, West Ridge's iconic Indian grocery store, celebrates 50 years in business; and
WHEREAS, Mafat and Tulsi Patel opened the first Patel Brothers near Damen and Devon in Chicago in September 1974; and
WHEREAS, Mafat Patel, co-founder of Patel Brothers, grew up in Bhandu village in the Mehsana district of Gujarat, India. In 1968, Mafat moved to the USA and started missing the Indian food and ingredients that he grew up with: Khichadi, Turmeric, Rice Flour and so much more; and
WHEREAS, realizing he couldn't do it alone, Mafat persuaded his younger brother Tulsi Patel, and his wife, Aruna Patel, to join him in 1971. The first store opened three years later; and
WHEREAS, Patel Brothers is a family effort and started as a way for the brothers and their families to bring traditional Indian food and ingredients to the burgeoning community of immigrants missing that taste of home; and
WHEREAS, three generations of family members grew with the Patel Brothers business, helping out where they could from an early age: bagging groceries, stocking shelves, and slinging carts; and
WHEREAS, the original store moved several times over the years before settling at 2610 W. Devon Ave, an anchor community institution that has helped grow Chicago's Little India business corridor along Devon Avenue and the growing ethnic market community in Cook County suburbs; and
WHEREAS, starting with an 800-square-foot shop, Patel Brothers is now the country's largest South Asian grocery chain, worth over $200 million with 52 stores stretching from New Jersey to Texas; and
WHEREAS, the Patel Family is not just an example of business leadership, but also community leadership. Multiple generations of the Patel Family have been community, civic, and philanthropic leaders for the Indian, South Asian, and Asian American communities, and beyond; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that ...
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