WellesleyWeston Magazine

WINTER 2013/2014

Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.

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business "a land of opportunity" worked in finance, envisioning a successful career as an investment banker. But after several squash is a favored sport in Pakistan, Jafri years in the competitive field, Jafri realized that if he really wanted to succeed, he needed to grew up playing the game, and he sees it as draw upon what made him unique, rather than try to fit in with everyone else. "I realized that if another way to bring his culture to America. I worked with a product that represented my heritage, my culture, and my background, and I Jafri's built a thriving company and con- had the ability to control the supply side of the business, that may give me an advantage in the siders himself fortunate to have found his marketplace," says Jafri. He began importing rugs directly from looms in Pakistan, eventually calling. The production of fine rugs connects opening a 350-square-foot retail store in Dover in the late 1980s. Jafri to his heritage, allows him to express his From the beginning, Jafri was absolutely focused on providing a superior quality of product. creative side, and indulges his love of travel. He traveled back and forth from Pakistan to the US, no matter the political climate, so that he "I essentially found America to be what I had could personally oversee the design and production of his rugs. Customers came calling. So heard about," reflects Jafri. "It's a land of many customers, in fact, that within a year Jafri outgrew his tiny store in Dover and moved to a opportunity where, if you work hard, you larger retail space in Wellesley. But Jafri did not stop there. Dover Rug & Home now occupies don't have to come from a certain blood line a custom built 36,000-square-foot building on Route 9 in Natick. The store carries the fine or progeny, you can make it happen." hand-knotted rugs that made it famous, but also carpeting, window treatments, and flooring "Immigrants tend to be very self-reliant," options. Oh, and there's also a busy squash academy attached to the store. Why squash? Well, Jafri continues. "A lot of them come from developing countries. They don't have the financial resources or the government benefits that will protect them if something Acorn Tree & Landscape happens, so they work hard, they rely on Design and Construction Offering Large Tree Transplanting the system, and they respect the system. Consequently, they also have the ability to Over , mature trees available to instantly establish your landscape. take risks. In some ways, your downside risk is well defined...The worst case is you go back to your homeland. But the upside gain is tremendous, which gives you the impetus to Hand digging large Rhododendron take risks because you do not have that far to fall. Sometimes the more you have, the more We l l e s l e y We s t o n M a g a z i n e | w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4 conservative you become because you have that much more to protect." • MA Certified Arborist • Owner Operated • Horticultural Consultant • Planting Plans It was 2009 when the international conInstalling 40 ft. Sugar Maple with tree spade A leader in New England in large tree & shrub transplanting Japanese Maple | Dogwood | Beech | Sugar Maple | Spruce | etc... Harvard, MA • Tel: -- • Fax: -- • acorntree@aol.com 144 sulting firm that Miriam Christof was working for asked her to move from her native Germany to the United States. Christof agreed, envisioning a stay of two years,

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