Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing (, Rami Levy Shivuk Hashikma) is the third largest Israeli retail supermarket chain, behind Shufersal Ltd. and Alon Holding–Blue Square Ltd., with annual revenues of NIS 1.14 billion (US$401 million). Founded in 1976 on Rehov Hashikma (Sycamore Street) in the Mahane Yehuda Market district, Rami Levy was Israel's first discount store. The chain claims to slash the price of the average basket of goods by as much as 20%. The company went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2007 and has increased its sales volume and number of stores each year since. Rami Levy operates a chain of 44 discount supermarkets in Central and Northern Israel. It also distributes wholesale to 450 stores in and around Jerusalem. The company has diversified into retail clothing sales, real estate, and cellular communications, with 20 stores of Rami Levy Communications selling cellular phone services at a discount. History Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing was founded by Rami Levy (born 1955, Jerusalem, Israel), one of six children of an Israeli-born father and Iraqi-born mother. He grew up in poverty in a one-room tin shack with a shared kitchen and bathroom in the Nachlaot neighborhood. Shopping with his mother in the nearby Mahane Yehuda Market (the "shuk"), Levy came to the realisation that there were price differentials available to wholesalers, who preferred selling to retailers to dealing with individuals. Upon completing his army service in 1976, he began selling goods at wholesale prices directly to individuals out of a stall that his grandfather had left to the family on Hashikma Street, one of the commercial streets of the shuk. He named his new company after himself and the street he was located on. Levy said he initially bought goods from a wholesaler and sold them at cost. After three months, he bought goods directly from the importer whilst maintaining his wholesale selling prices, thus becoming the first discount store in Israel. In the early 1980s Levy opened his second, store. He opened his first supermarket in Talpiot in 1992; he has since opened two other supermarkets in Talpiot to accommodate business. In May 2007 the company, with eight branches and a market valuation of NIS 430 million, made its initial public stock offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Within two years, the number of branches doubled to 16. Rami Levy introduced supermarket price wars to Israel by promoting low