“The family business,” says Ron Samuelson, “hopefully it’s not something that’s a dying breed.”
To celebrate a century in business, Steve and Ron Samuelson, the father-son team behind Samuelson’s Diamonds & Estate Buyers, want to pay it forward. They plan to give a $10,000 grant to a local family-owned business to mark their own special milestone.
Family businesses that have operated for at least five years in the Baltimore-Washington corridor are eligible to apply for the grant. Applications are open through next Wednesday, May 18, and a winner will be announced later this month at the company’s anniversary celebration.
“In the world that we’re in, with companies taking over other companies, we wanted to help people that are in the same boat that our company was 50 or 80 years ago,” says Ron, who joined the family business in 1994. “We decided if there are other family businesses in any industry — whether it’s a small-biz retailer or an auto repair or a plumber — we wanted to help them achieve their goals.”
The Samuelsons, who belong to Beth Tfiloh Congregation, hope to select a business that has a moving backstory.
Their own company story has deep roots in Baltimore, where Samuelson’s Diamonds was founded in 1922 as a pawnshop at 902 Pennsylvania Avenue by Steve’s father, Milton. In 1972, the Samuelsons moved their business to the corner of Baltimore and Paca streets and began selling jewelry. In 2009, Samuelson’s opened a few doors down at 419 W. Baltimore Street.
Since then, the business has expanded to include a pair of buying offices in Chevy Chase and Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Four years ago, the company moved its Baltimore headquarters to Quarry Lake at Greenspring, where it now functions as a showroom by appointment only.
After 96 years as a walk-in storefront, Samuelson’s evolved to change with the times, says Ron.
“We’d like to give our customers and clients the best experience possible, and we felt that’s really hard to do when people came in both at the same time or everyone’s coming in at once,” he says. “So the by-appointment model helps us and our team.”
But the core values at the heart of the third-generation business have not changed. Family remains at the heart of their business philosophy, says Steve, who came aboard in 1962.
“We walk away from anything that causes friction,” he says. “Nothing is more important than our family. If we have a disagreement over how to do something, we let it go.”
Says Ron: “We just decided that we’re not going to let money and business get in the way of our relationship. And we haven’t.”
The Samuelsons credit their success to a strong work ethic and loyalty to their staff.
“When we’re all here, we’re a family and our staff is included,” says Steve, 80. “When I first came to work for my father in the ‘60s, I noticed, unusually, that all the people who were employed by us worked there for 30 and 40 years. And I said to myself, ‘Wow, that’s unbelievable. It usually doesn’t work out that way.’ But it did then, and it does now.”
The Samuelsons say they strive to “lift the veil of secrecy” from the diamond industry.
“The diamond business has always been this secretive world on 47th Street [Manhattan’s ‘Diamond District’] that nobody really knows about,” says Ron. “When my dad was doing this 30 or 40 years ago, you went into a jeweler and trusted what he told you, and that was it.
“But now with the internet, people are savvy, and we like to educate people because they are coming here to sell their items, too. When you are on the other side of the counter, you want to learn about what you have.”
This transparency and a passion for entrepreneurship have helped the company build trust with customers and maintain itself through the industry’s changes in recent years, as well as the challenges of running a business during the pandemic.
A century since the founding of their business, the Samuelsons look forward to the future of their family operation.
“We’re just hoping to keep growing and evolving through times,” says Ron.
Adds Steve: “The fact that we’ve been in business for 100 years, keeping it in the same family with the third generation, I hope that’ll continue. It makes us feel good that we can be together, and I can be with my son every day. How many fathers can say that?”
For information about the Samuelson’s Diamonds grant, visit samuelsonsdiamonds.com/about/centennial/10k-grant/.
Hanni R. Werner is a local freelance writer.
For Beth Tfiloh senior Ada Key, earning the Eagle Scout rank is about giving back and paving the way for girls in scouting.
At Knit & Nosh, one of several VolunTeams run by the Macks Jewish Connection Network, young adults get together to knit scarves and hats for neighbors experiencing housing insecurity.
With his new book "The AfterWork," Akchin explores finding fulfilment and meaning after concluding one's professional career.
At the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), a growing number of students are discovering that higher education can be far more affordable than they imagined -- and in some cases, completely tuition-free.