The Dawahare (pronounced DAW-hair) family has a quintessential American story worth knowing — and celebrating.
I heard about Dawahare’s department store chain by chance, when I went exploring in Pikeville, Kentucky, and met the founder’s grandson.
“My grandfather was a pack peddler in the coal camps over here in east Kentucky,” Frank Dawahare told me. “He came to New York from Syria, not speaking any English, and without much money.”
Sixty years later, the Dawahare family owned and operated over 30 high-end department stores across Kentucky and neighboring states…