Hamady
{{Short description|American supermarket chain}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Hamady
| logo =
| caption =
| type = Partnership
| industry = Retail
| fate = (bankruptcy) revived
| foundation = Flint, Michigan, 1911
| founder = Michael and Kamol Hamady
| defunct = 1991 (1st)
| location_city = Flint, Michigan
| location_country =United States
| locations =
| area_served = Flint, Michigan area
| key_people = Justin Campau, Ramsay Sadek (CEO, managing partners)
| products = Groceries
| owner = {{ubl|Justin Campau| Ramsay Sadek{{cite news|last1=Lorenz|first1=Jason|last2=Feick|first2=Joel|title=Hamady returning to Flint with new location this summer|url=http://nbc25news.com/news/local/hamady-returning-to-flint-with-new-location-this-summer|access-date=June 14, 2017|work=WEYI|date=May 17, 2017}}}}
| num_employees =
}}
Hamady was an American supermarket chain based in Flint, Michigan, United States, which at its peak had 37 stores and 1,300 employees.{{cite news|url=http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/12/hamady_bros_grocery_may_make_c.html|title=Former owner plans Hamady Bros. grocery store comeback in Flint area|website=Flint Journal |publisher=MLive Media Group|access-date=June 13, 2017}} Given the chain's pervasiveness in the area, paper grocery bags were known as “Hamady sacks”.{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Dominic|title=#FlintTBT: Hamady Bros. grocery stores served Flint area for decades|url=http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/09/flinttbt_hamady_bros_grocery_s.html#incart_river|access-date=June 14, 2017|work=Flint Journal|publisher=MLive Media Group|date=September 25, 2014}}
History
Hamady Brothers was founded in 1911{{cite book |author=Samy S. Swayd|title=The A to Z of the Druzes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Nq9lD5wnBMC&pg=PA69|access-date=7 January 2014|year=2009|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-6836-6|pages=69–|quote=An early 20th-century Druze immigrant to the United States who served as the chairman of the board of Hamady Brothers, established in 1911 in Flint, Michigan.}} by Michael and Kamol Hamady, who were immigrant cousins from Lebanon and referred to themselves as brothers. The first store was opened on East Dayton Street and Industrial Avenue in Flint.
Michael Hamady was the first CEO and was followed by his son Robert in 1954, his grand-nephew Jack in 1967, and by his grandson Robert Lee in 1969. Robert Lee restructured the company and sold it in 1974 to Alex Dandy.
The chain expanded through Michigan in 1980 by purchasing 21 closed Kroger stores, primarily on the west side of the state.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=16haAAAAIBAJ&pg=7269,8368925&dq=hamady-brothers&hl=en|title=Kroger Selling Manistee Store|newspaper=Ludington Daily News|agency=AP|page=1|date=June 28, 1990|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=June 13, 2017}} In July and September 1985, Hamady bought two Hutch's supermarkets in Owosso, Michigan{{cite news|first=Robert J. |last= Grnak|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=b2kiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1379,1639010&dq=hamady-brothers&hl=en|title=2nd Hutch's Store to Be Bought by Hamady Brothers|work=The Argus-Press |date=September 20, 1985|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=June 13, 2017}} and in October bought Vescio's five stores in Saginaw County. The two acquisitions, which would be rebranded as Hamady stores, bringing the chain's store total to 30.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19850928&id=dGkiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1692,2903425|title= Hamady Chain Buys Vescio's Five Stores |via=Google News Archive Search|page=16|date=October 3, 1985|newspaper=The Argus-Press|access-date=June 13, 2017}} As a result, an existing Hamady in Owosso was converted to a discount store called Price Rite. Price Rite was run by a division of Durant Enterprises, Dandy's parent corporation.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lTsiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1463,5369462&dq=hamady+durant-enterprises&hl=en|title=Another year of growth for the council on aging|work=The Argus-Press|date=December 31, 1985|page=b3|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=June 13, 2017}}
Al Kessel formed a union breaking contract with Kroger and hired all non-union employees at vastly reduced wages. Still a union company, Hamady was unable to compete with the newly formed "Kessel" Kroger stores. In order to stay in business, Hamady asked their union employees to take concessions, siting that if they did not, the company would eventually have to close. The Union chose to strike in November 1987. Workers from other unions, including the UAW stood on the picket lines with Hamady employees and successfully closed the last union grocery company in Genesee County.
The strike lasted seven weeks until January 1988, causing Hamady to lose the holiday sales. Hamady declared bankruptcy in 1988 due to the lost revenue during the strike. Dandy's company also acquired Chatham, which was liquidated due to the strike. Due to the strike and subsequent bankruptcy, former Kroger locations, along with some former Vescio locations in Saginaw, Michigan, had closed. In March 1989, a reorganization plan by M&B Distribution board chairman James McColgan Sr. for Hamady Bros. was approved by Federal bankruptcy Judge Arthur J. Spector. McColgan Investment Co., a M&B subsidiary, purchased 21 Hamady Bros. supermarkets for about $17.9 million, to which Dandy objected.{{cite news|last1=Adler|first1=Allan P.|title=Judge's reorganization plan paves way for sale of Hamady |url=|work=Supermarket News|date=March 27, 1989}}
By May 1989, Dandy had approved the sale of Hamady assets to McColgan Investment. McColgan became chairman and chief operating officer.{{cite news|last1=Adler|first1=Allan|title=Hamady sold to distributor in Michigan. (Hamady Bros. supermarket chain, M&B Distributing Co.)|url=|access-date=|date=May 30, 1988}} Under the new management, the UFCW accepted concessions in their contract. A loss of sales during the "Dessert Storm" military offensive in Iraq, caused the chain to close the last of its 26 stores in 1991. 13 locations were sold to Kessel Food Markets, which was founded in 1981 by former Hamady vice president Al Kessel.{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Dominic|title=A look back at the history of Kessel Food Markets in Flint, Saginaw|url=http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/12/a_look_back_at_the_history_of.html|access-date=June 14, 2017|work=Flint Journal|publisher=MLive Media Group|date=December 28, 2012}}
Jim McColgan Jr.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc12.com/content/news/Hamady-Complete-Food-Center-closing-after-only-3-months-499859842.html|title=Hamady Complete Food Center closing after only 3 months=ABC12 News Team=abc12.com|access-date=6 November 2018}} announced the opening of a Hamady Complete Food Center in a former Kroger location in August 2017 in Flint.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Hamady-to-open-a-supermarket-in-August-in-Flint-422399013.html|title=Hamady to open supermarket in Flint|first=Randolph|last=Conat|website=abc12.com|access-date=13 June 2017}} The store permanently liquidated after failure to meet financial objectives after just three months.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc12.com/content/news/Hamady-Complete-Food-Center-closing-after-only-3-months-499859842.html|title=Hamady Complete Food Center closing after only 3 months|last=Team|first=ABC12 News|website=www.abc12.com|language=en|access-date=2019-04-05}}