Description
This collection contains business records of the Heller family grocery business, operated by Mathias F. Heller in San Diego,
CA from 1892 to 1929.
Background
Mathias (Mat) F. Heller was born in Fulton, Missouri in 1859. He and his wife, Lulu, relocated to San Diego in January of
1889. He worked as a clerk in his father-in-law’s small grocery business, and in January of 1892, he bought out his father-in-law
and became the sole owner of the store on 10th and F streets. He soon moved the store up one block to 11th and F, where the
rent was less expensive. He played a vital role in San Diego business, expanding Heller’s “cash-and-carry” grocery stores
(an innovative idea for the time) to 42 locations. He sold his stores in June 1929 to the MacMarr chain, which was absorbed
two years later by the mega-chain Safeway. Mat Heller, along with his sons Milton and Elwyn, founded Heller Investment Company,
where Mat was acting president until his death in 1942. He was 83 years old; survived by wife, Lulu, four children, six grandchildren,
and three great grandchildren.