1/THREAD Cambodians in the donut industry. A case study in ethnic nepotism:
2/ Most of the information in this thread comes from the 2020 documentary Donut King about Ted Ngoy and his Southern California donut empire.
3/ Ted Ngoy was a refugee from Cambodia. In 1975 he worked as gas station attendant. One night he smelled something sweet and went to a nearby store and tried donuts for the first time.
4/ He asked how he could open his own store they suggested he franchise a Winchell's which was popular in CA at the time.
5/ Ted was able to save up enough money to franchise a Winchell's. That may have been the worst business decision that they ever made...
6/ As business owners Ted and his wife did things that were unorthodox such as washing and reusing stir sticks that people had put in the garbage.
7/ They also invented the iconic pink donut box:
8/ Eventually he wanted to buy a donut shop for himself and start his own business.
9/He bought his first shop in 1976:
10/ And his business grew:
11/ He sponsored other families from Cambodia to come work for him:
12/ When they came he started a leasing program and he would make money on the overhead.
13/ He was open about only doing business with his own ethnic group:
14/ Slowly Cambodian donut shops started taking over Southern CA:
15/ There was another Cambodian who started a distribution company for Cambodians so they controlled all aspects of the supply line:
16/ As Cambodian shops took over Winchells began to fail. Ted lamented the fact that Winchells were failed but said that it was part of life.
17/ Later, Dunkin tried to break into the Southern California market but the Cambodian network was too strong.
18/ As an aside, Ted was pretty active in the Republican party, and was awarded a medal by president Bush.
19/ Eventually Ted gambled away all of his money and sold all of donut shops but the legacy of Cambodians and donuts remains to this day.
20/ It is estimated that 80% of donut shops in Southern CA are Cambodian owned: businessinsider.com/pink-doughnut-…
21/ Cambodians are not the only immigrant group to specialize. We see this pattern with Indians and motels, or Vietnamese and nail salons.
22/ It is normal to see immigrant groups have a preference for hiring their own.
23/ On the one hand this is a story of immigrants who faced horrific oppression in Cambodia coming to America and building wealth selling tasty treats.
24/ On the other hand it is hard not see the Cambodian donut industry as beneficiaries of defecting in the prisoners dilemma that is ethnic politics. If Winchell's only hired whites the way Cambodians only hired their own, the Cambodians possibly never would have got off the ground.
If you have corrections or clarifications lmk.
People who may be interested:
@cremieuxrecueil
@Steve_Sailer
@whyvert
@sebjenseb
@KirkegaardEmil
@BosqueAli
@arctotherium42
@Shiftant
@HarmlessYardDog
@ScottMGreer
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