The Food-A-Rama Story

1947	April 1st, Paul and Sonia Diamond, Sonia's mother, and Ben and Devorah Schuster came to the US after WW II. For 5 weeks all of them lived at 2308 Eutaw Place with aunt Jesse and uncle Henry Turk. Cousins prepared a separate apartment for the Diamonds and Schusters at 1833 Linden Avenue. Ben and Devorah Schuster moved to Flatbush, New York and Ben taught in a yeshiva. He taught there for half a year. Devorah became pregnant and was unable to work. They lived in a "privileged kitchen" — apartment where a few tenants share one kitchen. Paul worked in Washington, D.C. at his cousin's (Harry Zeitelman) restaurant across the street from the White House. Paul went to night school for a few months, in D.C., to learn English. He quit his job with Zeitelman and went to work for another cousin, Nathan Zuriff. It was a small store that sold socks, scarves, etc. Paul got paid $35/week. When Zuriff was supposed to give him a $5 raise and didn't do it, Paul could not continue working for "peanuts." Sonia worked in a sewing factory making $18/week, but she became pregnant and got sick which forced her to stop working. They moved out of Linden Avenue and moved to Baltimore Street & Eden Street. Nathan Zurrif owned the building. The living conditions were poor, so Paul and Sonia moved out after 1 month.
1948	January 1st, Paul and Sonia Diamond bought their first store on 174 West Cross Street. They paid $4,000 for the store, which was old and falling apart. They borrowed most of the money from Paul's uncles and aunts (aunt Becky and uncle Joe Savitz, the Turks, Sol Goldstein, the Aliker's and the Roskes') and signed a note to pay it all back to them. Paul and Sonia also had saved $500, which they had from gifts. They lived above the store until they sold it in 1949. Their first son, Abe Diamond, was born Friday night April 2, 1948 at 11:38 pm. And the bris was on Saturday. Ben and Devorah came back to Baltimore. The uncles and aunts bought them a corner grocery store on Druid Hill Avenue. They lived above the store for 5 years. The only source of heat was a gas stove. Their first child, Sylvia (Elhai), was born April 5, 1948.
1949	In March, Dave Diamond arrived in Baltimore from Europe. He had tuberculosis and went to Mount Pleasant Hospital on Mount & Fayette St.Ben and Devorah came back to Baltimore. The uncles and aunts bought them a corner grocery store on Druid Hill Avenue. They lived above the store for 5 years. The only source of heat was a gas stove. Their first child, Sylvia (Elhai), was born April 5, 1948.
1950	Paul and Sonia bought a store at Harlem Avenue & Mount Street and sold the old store on West Cross Street. Their second son, Marvin Diamond was born on October 31, 1950. Ben and Devorah's second daughter, Berly (Hershkovitz), was born April 14, 1951.
1952	Ben and Paul bought Dave Diamond his first store.
1953	Ben and Devorah Schuster bought their store on Mount & Moser Avenue from the Kanter family.
1955	Dave sold his old store and bought a store on Fayette Street & Baltimore Street with a partner, Saul Sirok. After a while, Dave did not want to be in business without Paul and Ben. Paul and Sonia's third son, Sidney Diamond, was born July 9, 1955. Ben and Devorah's son, Dr. Alvin Schuster, was born February 20, 1955. Dave Diamond married Ruth Trieger. They moved to Oakford Avenue.
1956	Paul and Sonia Diamond moved into their home on Highgate Avenue.
1957	Ben and Devorah's third daughter, Paula Schuster, was born July 9, 1957. Paul and Sonia's daughter, Susie (Ben-David), was born December 11, 1957. Paul and Ben bought a self-service grocery store together in Druid Hill.
1958	Paul and Sonia Diamond sold their Harlem Avenue Store.
1960	Paul Diamond, Dave Diamond, and Ben Schuster bought a full-size grocery store together at Liberty Road & Garrison Blvd. They named it FOOD-A-RAMA.
1970	Food-A-Rama owned and operated 5 supermarkets.
1973	The Universal Product Code (UPC) - the postage stamp sized symbol printed on packaged goods - was introduced.
1974	Food-A-Rama owned and operated 11 supermarkets in the inner city.
1975	Paul Diamond's eldest son, Abe, joined Food-A-Rama.
1976	In February/March, Food-A-Rama, along with B.Green & Co., made it's first large acquisition by purchasing 6 Big Valu supermarkets from the Penn Fruit Company.   B.Green & Co. Timeline
1978	In August, Food-A-Rama became the first local grocery chain to open a Warehouse Store in Baltimore. They were called Warehouse Food Markets, until later on when the name was changed to Cost Saver Warehouse Food Markets.
1979	Food-A-Rama owned a total of 19 stores.
1980	Food-A-Rama had 6 warehouse stores.
1981	In August, Food-A-Rama bought 11 Pantry Pride stores after Pantry Pride declared bankruptcy. The Pantry Pride stores were re-opened as Super Super high volume stores. In December, Food-A-Rama bought 3 more Pantry Pride stores.   Pantry Pride TV Commercial
1982	Food-A-Rama became the 2nd largest supermarket chain in Baltimore behind Giant Food. 18%   Giant Timeline 16%   8%   A&P Timeline 6%   Safeway Timeline 5%   ACME Timeline 4%   Mars Timeline
1983	Food-A-Rama began to remodel some of the stores with improved technology. They were using B.Green & Co. and Super Rite Foods as the 2 main grocery suppliers for all the stores.
1984	In March, Food-A-Rama bought 10 Basics Food Warehouse stores and 2 Grand Union stores in Washington, D.C. from the Grand Union Company. Food-A-Rama and B.Green & Co. were having informal talks about merging and going public.   Grand Union TV Commercial In December, Food-A-Rama signed an agreement to sell the 48 store chain to its main grocery supplier, Super Rite Foods.   Super Rite Foods Timeline.
1985	January 9th, the Food-A-Rama/Super Rite deal was completed.   1985 Annual Report (PDF)
1988	Paul Diamond met with the future owners of Seven Mile Market in Baltimore, MD. The owners requested to meet with Paul, for advice on opening the country's largest kosher supermarket.
2003	November 4th, Ben Schuster was inducted into the Maryland Food Industry Hall of Fame at an awards presentation.
2010	November 4th, Paul Diamond was inducted into the Maryland Food Industry Hall of Fame at an awards presentation. His wife Sonia Diamond and grandson Jeremy Diamond accepted the award.

* 1937 An Oklahoma supermarket owner (Sylvan Goldman) invented the shopping cart.
* Richfood Holdings

Food World Magazine, Supermarket News, Progressive Grocer Magazine, Food Marketing Institute, Supervalu Inc. - Eastern Region, The Diamond Family, The Schuster Family, Roy Marks, Leonard Jaslow, Al Rosenstadt, Ruth Sommer, Jerry Esterson

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