Mmmmm....Asian Chicken Salad and French Onion Soup

Ron Samuelson said that the company is in talks with PNC Bank, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Panera Bread and “other major retailers” to come to the site as tenants…

Well, it’s been over two years but we kept our promise. Now we welcome Panera Bread to the block as our neighbors and tenants.

Everyone loves Panera. Some of my favorite menu items are the French onion soup, Asian chicken salad and the oatmeal raisin cookies…and I can’t wait to find some more!

Here's Panera, we are to the right - click to enlarge

We’ve known about this for a few weeks and kept it on the DL, but when The Baltimore Business Journal came out with this article, we wanted to give you something fun to read. They also didn’t mention that Panera was moving next to a 90 year old institution in Baltimore, so if they’re not going to mention us, we are!

We are right next door, and we all know that people who love gourmet coffee and Asiago bagels LOVE DIAMONDS!!!

Click here to see our May 2009 blog post/press release about it. A nice pic of David and me in front of our store with a sign – “coming soon”.

This is the very first time we’ve had a second location in the history of Samuelson’s. We have so
many customers that sell diamonds, gold, silver and jewelry to us all the way from Washington
DC and Northern Virginia, that we had to make it easier. We’ve had such great success with our
DC friends that this is a natural fit for us and we’re beyond excited about this move.

So please contact us for an appointment and come check out the new digs. There is a lot to do in
our new neighborhood – great bars and restaurants – and with Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave
and even Chico’s (for you Mom) all in the area, you will be sure to get some shopping done as
well.

Please CLICK HERE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AT OUR DC OFFICE.

Snowed - but open!

Boy did we get snowed this week! As soon as we had gotten ourselves out from under the first blast, Tuesday comes and hits us again. We even had to close on Wednesday and last Saturday! The Baltimore Business Journal was not above noticing the adverse effect this may have on businesses, including ourselves:

Ron Samuelson, owner of Samuelson’s Diamonds in Baltimore, said shoppers are maxed out after Christmas shopping already, and doesn’t expect to gain a lot of Valentine’s Day business. Samuelson recalled the weekend in December before Christmas Day, when snow hurt retailers looking to gain from the last-minute shopper.

“Now it’s a double whammy, and downtown is pretty bad,” Samuelson said. His West Baltimore Street store was closed Wednesday.

Last Saturday was the first day Samuelson had ever closed the store, he said.

Undaunted, though, we’re back! And our Fans on Facebook may have heard:

we’re open for business. the main roads are fine so come on down and say hi, free beer and MAJOR discounts if you do!

We’re just sayin’ – if you’re in the ‘hood, don’t be shy. And if you’re not in the neighborhood, there’s really not much else to do once you’re done digging out.

I guess we learned our lesson! For the most entertainment-per-minute you’ll ever get in a weather report, check this local forecast out (you won’t be disappointed.)

And remember not to buy *absolutely* every carton of milk and loaf of bread in the store, people – we’re going to be under for a max of 2, 3 days (if that) and really, we both know you go to the store only maybe twice a week. Just buy the normal amount.

Then again, if some people really are going to hibernate we’re not here to judge.

All of this is to let you know that our own Ron Samuelson will be speaking at the Monday Pre-Show Conference in an exciting session called “Social Media – Myth or Miracle?“.  Smart Jewelry Show is scheduled for four days from the 23rd of April to the 26th, and Ron will be speaking the morning of the 26th.

More details to come!

We Love Big Diamonds!

We want to give a special shout out to all of our Washington DC customers from here in Ravensland. We went down there last week and bought some great jewelry.

People were also selling a lot of gold coins (like Krugerrands), silver flatware (Gorham, Steiff, and my favorite silver pattern Kirk Old Maryland Engraved.)

And diamonds…yeah we bought some big ones! Rounds, cushion cuts, princess cuts and everything in between.

Now it’s time to get those diamonds re-cut to “Samuelson’s Diamonds Proportions” and make them the brightest and best diamonds on earth! If you are in Baltimore or Washington DC and want to sell your diamonds, silver or gold, give us a holler and we will be happy to take a look at your jewelry!

The deed was done on a one horse open sleigh ride in Stowe, Vermont. It was snowing and beautiful. Thanks so much. She LOVES the ring.

And then Megan sent over these great pictures with a note:

Ron – I just wanted to say thank you for helping Jon put together such a beautiful engagement ring for me! He proposed to me yesterday on a horse-drawn snowy sleigh ride through the Vermont forest.

This is why I love my job. Congrats to my good friends Jon and Megan! Wishing you many years of health and happiness!

Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital

Here’s the article from the Baltimore Sun:

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore will break ground today for a $29.5 million expansion of its Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital.

A two-story wing and related upgrades were designed to help Sinai improve the range of services it provides for patients from birth to age 18.

When complete in March 2012, the facility will feature a larger children’s diagnostic center and all-private inpatient rooms with space for parents to sleep overnight. Sinai’s pediatric intensive care unit will be renovated, and a larger pediatric oncology clinic will be built.

The children’s hospital expansion is the latest in a series of improvements that Sinai has made in recent years to its Northwest Baltimore campus, along with a new south patient tower and atrium.

The project is driven by a need for more space and a desire to enhance the quality and efficiency of care for infants, children and adolescents.

“We’re going to be able to significantly improve our ability to serve kids and their families because we are going to be offering private rooms for everyone, to give not only a richer, safer environment for patients but also to give more flexibility in staffing and in providing the array of services that children need,” said Warren Green, chief executive officer of LifeBridge Health, Sinai’s corporate parent. “A big part of what we’re trying to do with this new hospital is provide an environment that puts its arms around the entire family.”

Beginning around 2003, “the number of admissions that we could accommodate per year capped, because we really had no more room,” said Joseph Wiley, chairman of the children’s hospital. “There are many weekday nights … in which we were maxed out. We had patients in the emergency room waiting for patients to be discharged, sometimes as late as 11 o’clock at night, sometimes as early as 5 or 6 in the morning.”

The expansion, designed by Hord Coplan Macht of Baltimore, also will enable Sinai to keep up with the latest technological advances in pediatric care, said Sharon Rossi, director of patient care for women’s and children’s services.

“Technology changes, and with that the demands change,” she said. “So to stay cutting-edge, we want to have the very best in technology.”

Administrators say Sinai has the capacity to treat 2,635 children a year as inpatients and 30,600 children a year as outpatients. They project that the expansion will give Sinai the ability to admit 135 more pediatric inpatients each year, an increase of more than 5 percent, and treat an additional 600 pediatric outpatients each year, an increase of 2 percent.

In addition, they say, creating all private rooms for patients will enable parents to be with their children throughout their hospital stays. Now, Sinai’s children’s hospital has 22 inpatient beds, but only 10 of them are in private rooms.

The project is being financed by a combination of philanthropic contributions, state and federal funding and hospital funds. To date, Sinai has raised more than $17 million to build the project, including a lead gift of $4 million to name the children’s hospital after the late Samuelson brothers, who were active in Baltimore’s real estate industry.

The project’s design is based on a philosophy of “family-centered care,” which means the patient’s family takes part along with the physician in the diagnosis, treatment and care of the child.

“Family-centered care has always been integral to the children’s hospital at Sinai,” Rossi said. “We were one of the first hospitals in the nation to allow parents to sleep at the bedside” in the pediatric intensive care unit.

The way Sinai approaches pediatric care, “you’re not just treating the patients,” said Laura Cohen, coordinator of child life services. “You’re treating the whole family. It’s a team.”

So that’s the leacy that they leave and I love to see it going to a great cause! We hope to continue to support good causes and keeping the Samuelson name alive.

A brief notice:

To better serve all of our Washington DC area customers, we are hosting a jewelry buy at White Flint Mall on November 11 & 12 from 12-7pm. We will be at:

The Jewelry Design Company
White Flint Mall
11301 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20895
Lower Level Across from Banana Republic

Please call us at 410-837-0290, contact us or email me personally for an appointment. We are buying diamonds, gold, silver flatware and all jewelry. Here are some examples of what we’re buying:

So please make an appointment and I will be happy to help you as always. And, of course, don’t forget to email me with any requests, big or small.