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Volume: 21 Issue: 47 Winter 2023 Special Issue on Syriac Americans
Thumb Bread is sold in seven different States about 100 locations,such Shoprite, 7 Elevens, and Fairway.
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Füsun, Gonca and Arzu Esendemir sisters started the Flatbread Grill® concept back in 2007 when their father was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. They grew up in poverty, so the family never had health insurance. The father immigrated to American in 1975 in pursuit of a better education and to follow his own dream of entrepreneurship. The restaurant concept was started after Füsun was laid off from her corporate job so they could take care of her parents.
Their father was a soccer player as a goalkeeper in Türkiye. He went to İstanbul University, went back to Adana, and married. He decided to come to the U.S. to pursue more education. He left in 1975. He did not know his wife was pregnant with Füsun. Father Mehmet Esendemir came to Washington, DC and played soccer there. When he went to play a soccer match against New Jersey team the coach of that team saw and recruited him to play for them. Turkish community in Paterson helped him find a job and getting sponsorship. Soccer had really helped him to pursue American dream.