JOE AND Diana Tam are not afraid to take risks.

They opened the first Farmer Joe's grocery store on 35th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard 10 years ago, a time when chain grocery stores were eating up the competition.

Now that they have the keys to the old Albertsons store in the Dimond district, a market twice the size of their current market, the Tams said they hope the community's warm welcome will offset the gamble they are taking in opening a second store.

"We feel less intimidated by the size of the place because we're going into an area we are familiar with," Diana Tam said as she pulled out sketches for a remodeled storefront.

The new Farmer Joe's is slated to open in May.

The Tams are mom and pop shop owners in the most literal sense. On an average day, Joe Tam can be found bagging groceries for customers, sweeping the floors or pricing some of the natural products the market specializes in.

His first love, however, is offering fresh produce. He worked produce in various markets for 20 years before opening Farmer Joe's and said it makes his day when customers find the perfect fruit or vegetable for their meals.

"When you see a customer and they see the things they like, you feel good about it," the Grocer opening second store said.

Diana Tam is a perpetually cheerful businesswoman whose focus is supporting the community while building a business in it.

Many of the products the Tams  buy come from local vendors, and the walls of her office are covered with awards from area schools and organizations, thanking her for participating in charitable endeavors.

"I feel that improves the neighborhood," she said.

Farmer Joe's has been a successful marketplace, Diana Tam said, because it is one of the few stores in the area that stocks prime organic produce, natural foods and recycled paper products.

"Our customers are concerned about the environment, concerned about the world we live in, and so are we," she said.

Jueli Garfinkle, a self-described Berkeley Bowl die-hard, said she recently discovered Farmer Joe's, and it has become her No. 1 market.

"Everything is fresh here, and there are options," said Garfinkle, who lives in Oakland. "My husband is a vegetarian, and there are more choices here for him."

At their new location, Farmer Joe's will compete with Safeway a block away. Diana Tam said the two grocery stores attract a different kind of clientele, and she does not anticipate much of a challenge from the supermarket.

"What makes us different than supermarket chains is people like to support small businesses like ours," she said.

Customers are given special attention, she added, and the Tams regularly order and stock products at customers' requests.

The couple, who have been married 18 years and have three children, love the Laurel district and intend to keep the original store open, they said.

But Farmer Joe's   has grown out of its Laurel district home. Shelves are stacked nearly to the ceiling with products, and Tam wants to bring in even more as customers make more requests.

"We just have a tiny store here," Tam said. "We have to get very creative when we put products on the shelves."

The new store will have a full meat department, a floral department and a section of beer and wine. The Tams also are installing a kitchen to make and sell prepared food.

"All of that will take quite a bit more space," Diana Tam said.

And, the Tams said, it will have plenty of parking. The store shares a lot with Longs Drugs, and there are several lots nearby for shoppers to park.

"That is one of the reasons we like that area," Joe Tam said.