In Dearborn, as one longtime family business closes, in its place, another will open
Karen and George Nigosian, now 79 and 83, will tell you that they’ve lived the American dream.
They started a small business, the eponymously-named Nigosian Rug Co. in Dearborn, more than a half-century ago. They built it up to two stores while also raising four children, and now, they are ready — maybe not to fully retire — but to scale way back.
Their story, which is woven into their community's story, is a sentimental one, especially as the couple prepares to close their Dearborn shop, but also one that many — especially younger generations — have begun to question is still possible, even as politicians pledge to do more to encourage and support more small businesses.
"We’ve been here a long time," Karen Nigosian said. "We’ve decided at this point we’re going to have a smaller presence online after this, but probably after the first of the year for quite a few of our antique pieces. We’ve had, oh my gosh, so many people from all over calling, saying, 'We’re going to miss you.' "
Their story also, in a way, shows that while the idea that America offers people around the world hope for a better life, in recent years, many Americans feel disillusioned with that idea, and, how some people — in places like Dearborn and Springfield, Ohio, where immigrants have settled — people feel left out.
The Nigosians recently sold the corner lot and building, 21919 Michigan Ave., where their remaining 7,000-square-foot store has operated for 54 years, to another family-owned business, Farhat Sweets, specializing in Middle Eastern pastries. They plan to close their store at the end of October.
An 'imperfect' aspiration
Nicholas DiPucchio, a historian at Oakland University, called the American dream an "imperfect one," with a meaning that changes depending on who — and when — in history you ask. It is fraught with tension, often tied to westward expansion.
"The American dream has always been something that Americans have strived for, but this dream wasn't obtainable by everyone," DiPucchio explained, adding that while America is viewed as a land of opportunity, "sometimes that opportunity is seen as coming at the expense of others."
Small businesses, often defined as enterprises with 500 employees or fewer, account for 99% of firms in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration. And while most of the 33 million companies don’t have paid employees, about 6 million of them do and account for 46% of private sector employment.
Over the years, the Nigosians said, they’ve had offers to buy their property, which they said is desirable, but they considered the proffers too low. The timing for a sale was never right, either.
Faith, family, friendships and — after nearly 60 years of marriage — love kept them going.
The recent offer from Farhat, they said, was too good to pass up, however.
The Nigosians declined to discuss how much they originally paid for the property and how much they sold it for; but, they said, it turned out to be a great investment.
Now, they want to spend more time with their six grandkids, two of whom are in college at the University of Michigan. One, they’re quite proud to say, is in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the other is in the medical school.
And who knows, they added, maybe they’ll eventually have some great grandbabies to spoil.
What is the American dream?
The Nigosians met at the Armenian church with the gold dome in Southfield.
Karen, 19, was from Dearborn, and George, 23, from Detroit. They liked each other and agreed to marry. Not long after that, they took on a series of financial risks to open the business, expand it, and developed, over the decades, long-standing relationships with customers and others in the Dearborn community.
They raised a family and had a happy life. Nov. 1 will be their 60th anniversary.
At the same time, the Nigosians are among a shrinking group who believe the American dream still exists.
Facing growing wealth inequality and what seems like diminishing opportunities, many increasingly question whether upward mobility is possible. In an ABC/Ipsos poll from earlier this year, a little more than a quarter of respondents, 27%, said they believed hard work was enough to "get ahead."
When the question was asked in 2010, the percentage who answered hard work was enough: 50%.
More than half, 52%, of those surveyed more recently said the promise of the American dream used to be true but is no longer. And, among younger Americans, the poll found, even more of them doubted whether the American dream was a reality.
Still, the promise of a better life is something that continues to draw people to metro Detroit — and America.
But the promise of this dream also has created a backlash. It helps explain why immigration has been an issue in the presidential election, particularly in cities like Springfield and other Midwest communities where there are work opportunities and the cost of living is relatively low.
Donald Trump, in the presidential debates, for instance, claimed Springfield immigrants were eating pets, a claim that the city has discredited and reportedly led to bomb threats, the shuttering of city hall, and the evacuation of two schools.
The city also has noted that Haitians and other immigrants are working in warehouses, manufacturing, service industry and professional jobs. Like in many cities throughout American history, new residents and new businesses have helped to fuel economic prosperity.
Sarah Churchwell, a University of London professor, makes the case that while the American dream has become associated with economic success, historically, the phrase represents the idealism of what she called "the great American experiment."
Churchwell suggested in a 2021 essay, "A brief history of the American Dream," that the American dream invokes images of a house with a white picket fence, economic self-sufficiency and security, and a sense of equal opportunity to achieve.
But she said it's more than that.
Martin Luther King Jr., she pointed out, talked about his version of the American dream.
And, she added, the phrase also has been used as less of "a promise, or a guarantee" to some, but as an exhortation to all, urging "Americans to do better, to be fairer, to bigotry and inequality, to keep striving for a republic of equals."
'Best thing we ever did'
For their part, the Nigosians have been too busy all these years running their own business and raising a family to spend much time reflecting and philosophizing on how the American dream fits into politics and what it means to society. They have mostly viewed it as an extension of their own dream.
And opening a specialty rug store, Karen Nigosian told the Free Press, was her husband’s dream.
George's family had a rug store in Canada, and he figured, as a young man in his 20s, he could start one in Michigan. For him, running a store was a better way to make a living than working in a factory. He had, she said, a vision for what the store could be and made it happen.
The first store was small.
So when a bigger store that sold furs went on the market, they seized the opportunity.
"It was a quiet community, but it worked out for us," Karen Nigosian said. "When we bought this property, it was the best thing we ever did. This is the gateway to west Dearborn. Now, there are no buildings available, and if you come here at night, it’s just booming."
Dearborn turned out to be the perfect location for their shop as the city grew and transformed from a manufacturing city, as Ford Motor Co.'s headquarters with a longtime segregationist mayor, Orville Hubbard, into a more vibrant and cosmopolitan place.
Hubbard, Dearborn's mayor from the early '40s into the late '70s, openly sought to "keep Dearborn clean," an initiative that, according to the Detroit Historical Society, "was widely understood to mean keep Dearborn white." He fought "building of a low-income housing complex in Dearborn, believing it would turn into a 'Black slum.' "
In 1967, the historical society said, Hubbard "ordered police to shoot any rioters on sight. "
Since leaving office, the city's population has significantly changed.
About 55% of the 110,000 residents now claim a Middle Eastern or North African heritage, up from 30% in 2000.
And Kelli Vanden Bosch, the president of the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce, said businesses will miss the Nigosians and their oriental rug shop, which has been "an institution" in the community; but, she added, the new sweet shop moving in "sounds delicious."
Following your dreams
More than a way to make money, the Nigosians said their business also was a way to support the aspirations that they, and perhaps all parents, had for their children: a desire for them to achieve more in life ― in one way or another — than they did.
The rug store, the Nigosians said, gave them enough income to pay their bills and send four kids to private school and college to earn four-year degrees, more education than they had.
All four of their children — Greg, Marc, Taleen Baldwin, and George Jr., now in their 50s — worked in the stores, but also have found their own careers.
The Nigosians said that through the Dearborn store they also got involved in the community, joining economic development and civic and service organizations. It was good for their business, but it was even better, they said, to be a part of groups helping their hometown.
For a decade, the couple also operated a second store in Birmingham.
And over the years, the couple said, their business also connected them to others who became their friends and people they considered extended family. These customers didn’t just shop at the store; they stopped by to say hello and chat about what was going on in their lives.
Some things, the Nigosians said, make it more difficult to be a retailer now, a reason to have doubts.
Other things, they said, also make it easier.
Before computers and websites, all they had was the newspaper for advertising, the telephone for people to call — and a door, for people to walk through. But, they also weren't competing with every retailer with an internet connection.
The Nigosians are still optimistic about the future.
And, they said, anyone with a dream — whatever it is, including starting a store — should pursue it.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: As Nigosian Rug Co. closes, its owners reflect on the American dream
