Immigrant brothers get their lives back on track
By Shari Kaplan
Rags-to-riches stories are often the stuff of which fairytales are made, but sometimes the more interesting tales are those that spin in reverse: from riches to rags--and perhaps, with perseverance, back to riches again.
For identical twins Tony and Sam Abrahim, that's the story of their life. It's also a story that is still being written as they continually expand their business, IMG Home, which sells imported rugs, furniture and home decor items from several Bay Area showrooms and galleries, the newest at 575 N. Santa Cruz Ave.
The road that led them here had many twists and turns, including both luxury and poverty. The brothers were born Mirwais and Masud Ibrahimi 42 years ago in Afghanistan, the last of their mother, Zahra's, 11 children.
Their father, Said, owned--among other things--three homes, a movie theater, several gift shops and an import-export business. Said, in turn, was the son and grandson of men who made their fortunes in the international Silk Road trade.
"We grew up like princes," Tony says, recalling the servants who waited on his family. That changed in the 1970s, following civil war and ultimately a Soviet troop invasion and the establishment of a Communist regime. Said found himself under house arrest and the brothers, then in their late teens, were to be drafted into the military. "One day you open your eyes, and your whole life is gone," says Tony, the more talkative twin, to whom Sam often defers.
The family scattered, with Sam fleeing to Germany and Tony to New York. "I was a prince in Afghanistan and I came here as a dishwasher," he says, chuckling at the memory of arriving in a new city with $50 in his pocket and no command of the English language. He began by washing dishes in a restaurant, moving up the ranks from busboy to waiter to assistant manager.
"I had no days off, and I lived in a basement," he says of his early years, when he threw himself into his work and his study of English. "But what choice do you have? You have to survive."
Eventually Sam arrived in New York and joined Tony at work. In 1989, they pooled their savings and ambitions and set out for California, where they opened their first IMG Home store on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. Sam, who had married, ran the store, while Tony drove a truck throughout the state and country, selling their wares.
The initials IMG stand for International Market Gallery, which reflects the fact that the rugs and furniture came from merchants throughout the world. The brothers began with merchandise from a handful of countries; today, that number is up to 27 and represents locales in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and South America.
"This trade is in our genes for hundreds of years," Tony says of his and Sam's success with IMG Home, which now encompasses four San Francisco locations and one in San Rafael, along with Los Gatos. The brothers hope to open five more stores within the next year.
"I started at zero and built myself up. I had the taste of steak and lobster in my mouth once, and after I lost it, I wanted to get it back again. You can be anything you want; it just takes effort and time. It's all about the American dream," Tony says, smiling.
Not taking their success for granted, the brothers actively support charitable organizations. Most recently, they held a benefit at their Harrison Street store for Acting in Solidarity with Afghan People, a nonprofit support network for needy women, children and families in Afghanistan. When conditions are more favorable, they also hope to establish factories in their homeland to provide employment opportunities for the many people in need of jobs.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
