Hamady Brothers was an American supermarket chain based in Flint, Michigan which at its peak had 37 stores and 1,300 employees. Given the chain's prevasiveness in the area, paper grocery bags were known as “Hamady sacks”. The family business is best remembered for sending truckloads of food to the strikers in the famous sit-down strike in 1937 of General Motors' Fisher Body plant that led to the recognition of the United Auto Workers by the auto industry.
History
Hamady Brothers was founded in 1911 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, 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. In July and September 1985, Hamady bought two Hutch's supermarkets in Owosso, Michigan followed by in October with the purchase of Vescio's 5 stores in Saginaw County. The two acquisitions, which would be rebranded as Hamady stores, bringing the chain's store total to 30. As a result, an existing Hamady in Owosso was converted to a discount store called Price Rite. Price Rite was ran by a division of Durant Enterprises, Dandy's parent corporation. The chain was hit with a seven-week strike in 1987. Dandy's company also acquires Chatham. Chatham and Hamady were embezzled from by Dandy. By 1988, the former Kroger locations, along with some former Vescio locations in Saginaw, Michigan, had closed. Hamady declared bankruptcy in 1988. 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, would purchase 21 Hamady Bros. supermarkets for about $17.9 million to which Dandy objected. By May 1989, Dandy had approved the sale of Hamady assets to McColgan Investment. McColgan became chairman and chief operating officer. The chain closed the last of its stores in 1991. 13 locations were sold to Kessel Food Markets, which was founded in 1981 by former Hamady vice presidentAl Kessel. Jim McColgan has announced that he is opening a Hamady Complete Food Center in a former Kroger location in August 2017 in Flint. However, after just three months, the store permanently liquidated after failure to meet financial objectives.
