From 1895 to the first half of the 20th century, three department stores dominated the Phoenix retail market: Goldwater's; Korrick's, initially called The New York Store; and Diamond's, which started out as The Boston Store. All were located in downtown Phoenix and thrived on the competition.
Each store was founded, owned and operated by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe at a time in history when Jews were restricted from swanky Phoenix landmarks such as the Phoenix Country Club and Camelback Inn.
Today's column zeroes in on Diamond's department store and Harold Diamond, a second-generation family owner whose pioneering efforts helped lay the groundwork for the explosive growth of the city and the Jewish community in the second half of the 20th century.
Born in 1900, Harold was the son of Nathan and Elma Diamond. Nathan, along with his brother Isaac, emigrated from Poland to America in 1888 and settled in El Paso, Texas. In 1891 the family opened a small store offering household goods and men and women's clothing, and in an attempt to create a stylish, big city image, named it The New York Store.
Although the store prospered, Nathan and Isaac began to believe that Phoenix, with a bustling population of around 5,000, offered more potential for growth. In 1897, six years after founding The New York Store in El Paso, they moved the operation to Phoenix.
The new retail outlet in Phoenix was a carbon copy of The New York Store in El Paso, except for the name. Nathan and Isaac renamed it The Boston Store, because there was already a store in Phoenix called The New York Store. The latter was founded in 1895 by Sam Korrick, who had worked as a clerk for the Diamond brothers at their El Paso store.
The Boston Store was an overnight success. By 1907, business was booming. Then tragedy struck. A huge fire swept through the store, destroying $190,000 in stock that was only insured for $75,000. Instead of folding their tent, Nathan and Isaac went heavily into debt and rebuilt the store with more space.
By the early 1920s, The Boston Store was doing around $1 million in sales, a very substantial amount in those days. That's when Harold Diamond and his brother Bert joined the family business. They were soon followed by Isaac's two sons, Herbert and Ralph. Under their combined management, the store hit new highs in sales.
The four heirs headed their own departments. Harold was in charge of advertising and public relations. At the height of the depression, in 1931, The Boston Store had one of the largest retail advertising budgets in town and added more than 40,000 square feet of space. In the summer of 1934, the Boston Store became the first of the three retailing powerhouses to install an air conditioning system.
In 1947, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the store's name was changed to Diamond's. The family business continued to thrive until the mid-'50s, when the Phoenix downtown area began to deteriorate as a retail center. Ten years later, Diamond's was sold to a national retail chain. The new owner kept the Diamond's name, but moved the store into larger and more modern quarters in the new Park Central shopping center.
Diamond's was sold to another national chain in 1964 and then to a third in the mid-'80s. This time the new owner hauled down the marquee bearing the name of the founding family and replaced it with its own at the Park Central location. Diamond's thus became Dillard's, as Korrick's would become The Broadway and Goldwater's, Robinson-May.
Harold Diamond remained heavily involved in civic affairs and the Jewish community during his business career and into his retirement years.
He was a founder and one of the incorporators of Goodwill Industries of America and served as a board member of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, Roosevelt Council of Boy Scouts of America, the National Council of Christians and Jews, the Anti-Defamation League and Good Samaritan Hospital, the latter for 38 years.
Harold was also president of the Herman Lewkowitz B'nai B'rith Lodge and chairman of the Jewish Welfare Fund. Of all the organizations he was involved with, Temple Beth Israel was closest to his heart. He was one of its founders, instrumental in moving the temple from its Culver Street location to Flower Street and in the hiring of Albert Plotkin as rabbi; he was also long-time chairman of the cemetery committee and served two terms as president.
Harold died in 1972 at age 71. He was survived by his wife Helen, who passed away four years later, a daughter, Rochelle Anne, and two sons, Ronald and Kenneth. Kenneth followed in his father's footsteps by serving for many years as a board member and vice president of Temple Beth Israel and as chairman of the cemetery committee. He is also a longtime board member and treasurer of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society.
In an editorial about his death, the Phoenix Jewish News wrote that Harold Diamond was a quiet, courteous man devoted to family and community and had a selfless pioneering spirit that future generations would do well to remember.
Ira Morton is a former syndicated columnist, author and veteran feature writer. He currently serves as a board member of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. Visit www.azjhs.org.
