64
JUNE2015
AMERICANWAY
Itwasaverycomfortableplacetomove into,and
therehaven’tbeenconflicts.”
Susansays it ismucheasier tobeabusiness-
woman in theU.S. than inIndia. “InIndia, they
don’t take you as seriously. You have to be so
assertive.”
The Patel family is an economic engine on
Devon,owningthreebuildingsandrunningseven
businessesontheavenue,includingPatelBrothers
grocery,withthefirststoreestablishedin1974and
nowexpanded to52 stores in theUnitedStates
andCanada.The storeonDevon is spaciousand
spotless,filledwithsuchIndian foodsand ingre-
dients as gluten-free chapati flour, peanut and
sesamechikki,cocktailsamosa, jaggeryandfrozen
paneerkulcha.
After tea at Patel Café, apopular spotwhere
cricket fans gather to watch matches and
where Susanwill soonbe generalmanager, we
walk acrossDevonwhere she introducesme to
her uncle, BabuPatel, president of Sahil who,
withhis son, CEOBraveshPatel, oversees the
25-year-oldone-stop-shoppingdestination for
anyoneplanningan Indianweddingwhere “de-
sign consultantshelpyou in selecting the color
combination, thepatterns,embroidery,cuts, tra-
ditional lookand fabric.”
EnroutetoBabu’supstairsoffice,wepassstra-
tegically lit display rooms, wheremannequins
GETTINGTHERE
AmericanAirlines
offersa total of493
peak-dayflights to
Chicago (ORD)
from
116cities in 11countries,
with94of thoseflights
fromourhubs, including
Charlotte
(
CLT
; 10
flightsaday),
Dallas/
FortWorth
(
DFW
; 18),
LosAngeles
(
LAX
; 10),
Miami
(
MIA
; 11),
New
York
(
JFK
; 2and
LGA
;
16),
Philadelphia
(
PHL
;
9),
Phoenix
(
PHX
; 9)
and
Washington,D.C.
(
DCA
; 9).
SomeofBabu
Patel’swedding
dresses
forsale
POPULATION
65,000
MORETHAN
25
BAKERIES
SWEETSHOPS
TEAHOUSES
MORETHAN
40
LANGUAGES
SPOKEN
HOMEOFTHE
DEVON
COMMUNITY
MARKET
NEARLY
1,000
BUSINESSES
More than300 restaurants,
including Indian, Pakistani,
Afghan,kosher,Italian,BBQ,
IraqiandMediterranean
Source:WestRidgeChamberofCommerce,Westridgechamber.
org
QUICK
FACTS
ABOUTCHICAGO’SWESTRIDGENEIGHBORHOOD
