Aaron's father Harry arrived in England in the 1880s, having been born in Estonia in 1877, with his father Nathan, fleeing Russian persecution.

Nathan had acquired a job at a Sheffield synagogue as a Hebrew teacher, which had been advertised in a Yiddish newspaper distributed throughout the Baltic states.

Nathan died at the age of 111, and just before his death the local newspaper reported that he was the oldest person in the country.

Aaron's parents' first home was in a shop on Duke Street. His father would go to the auction houses in the Jewish quarter of Sheffield, and buy goods to sell in the shop. Aaron was a bright child, and helped his father learn to write his name in English, which opened up new opportunities and helped the business to grow and become successful.

Aaron would help his father on his stall at Sheffield market, and this is where his love of buying and selling began. When he left school, he began working as a trainee chemist, but his love for the markets took over and left his job to work on the market full time.

Aaron met his would-be wife Betsy when he was on demob leave from the army at Sheffield market, and it wasn't long before he proposed, vowing to spend whatever money he made on his stall that day on an engagement ring.

The couple bought an old pub, the Prince of Wales, which they converted into a junk shop.