Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Origins of Caspers Hot Dogs: A tale of immigration and success out w

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Origins of Caspers Hot Dogs: A tale of immigration and success out w

    San Jose Mercury News (California)
    January 10, 2013 Thursday


    Origins of Caspers Hot Dogs: A tale of immigration and success out west

    By Robert Rogers Contra Costa Times


    Tracing the history of one of the Bay Area's most enduring eateries is not easy.

    "Nobody kept books or coherent records," said Ron Dorian, grandson of
    an original partner in Caspers Hot Dogs. "A lot of my knowledge of
    company history was passed on from conversations with older relatives
    and not from anything in writing."

    Dorian, 54, is the grandson of Steve Beklian, one of the five men who
    established Caspers Hot Dogs in the East Bay between the 1920s and the
    1940s.

    It started in the 1920s, when Kasper Koojoolian, an Armenian
    immigrant, decided to flee Chicago for the warmer climate and business
    opportunities of California.

    Dorian said the first store was in Oakland, and it was called "Kaspers."

    Kaspers' success soon drew friends and family, including cousins like
    Steve Beklian, business savvy restaurateur Paul Agajan, Hagop Beklian
    and brother Paul Koojoolian.

    "Agajan operated two cafeterias in Cicero before moving to California.
    You had to be tough to operate businesses like that in Chicago in the
    1930s," Dorian said.

    New stores popped up in Oakland and surrounding suburbs, including the
    Richmond store in 1947.

    As often happens in business startups, the family relationships were
    strained by the growing enterprise. Kasper and his brother Paul
    Koojoolian broke away and retained his "Kaspers" name, while the other
    partners branched out and expanded their "Caspers" brand, Dorian said.
    Paul's son, Harold Koojoolian, still operates the Kaspers in Oakland.

    Tragically, Kasper Koojoolian died in 1943 while en route to Fresno,
    where he was looking for a ranch to buy. He always wanted to leave the
    city and retire as a rancher, Dorian said.

    Today, there are eight Caspers with 12 owners, including Dorian, all
    descendants of the original five.

    But it all started with a dream and impossible odds.

    "The Koojoolian brothers and Beklian brothers emigrated as young boys
    -- all together with no adults -- fleeing Turkey with money their
    parents gave them," Dorian said. "The parents couldn't leave -- and
    they knew their children would be killed if they stayed. The five of
    them made it from their village in Turkey to France and sailed to
    Philadelphia and crossed to Chicago at a time in their lives that kids
    today would still be in school. Their closeness cannot be
    underestimated."

Working...
X