Adam Brand
M&S Schmalberg’s fourth-generation flower maker describes how his family’s unique trade came to be
M&S Schmalberg is a true family affair. It was started in 1916 by my great, great uncles—Morris and Sam Schmalberg. My grandfather, Harold, who was a Holocaust survivor, took over and ran it until the ’80s with his wife, Renee. Then my dad, Warren, and aunt, Debra, were in charge—and my mom, Helen, worked there too. These days I'm the one who runs the company.
At one point there were numerous flower manufacturers in New York employing thousands of people. Schmalberg is the only one left; we have 14 people working here now. Some of our team have been here longer than I've been alive. Alex works the dye cutting machine, among other things. He used to come to my family's house for Passover and Thanksgiving dinners. Miriam is one of the ladies who makes the flowers. She could tell you stories of when my dad came in and told the staff that my mom was pregnant. She's quasi-retired, but she works here because she likes it.
Since 2017, we have made 250,000 fabric flowers, 1.2 million single petals, 750,000 covered buttons, 10,000 butterflies, and 50,000 leaves. When the show Sex and the City was really popular we were insanely busy. At that time we had 30 or 40 people working here. That was before outsourcing.
We recently had a big project with the San Francisco Opera. It was 20 different styles and fabric combos. We’ve worked with designers like Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Thom Browne, Carolina Herrera, and Rodarte. We do flowers for television series like Bridgerton and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. We did a lot for the [2022] Met Gala—we supplied flowers for the Vera Wang dress worn by Gwen Stefani and the Oscar de la Renta gown worn by Katy Perry. There are always a lot of rush orders for the Met Gala. It’s overwhelming and can be stressful, but we make it happen. It’s physically impossible to get that kind of attention and quality if you’re using companies that are overseas.
I would say that’s been the biggest change in American manufacturing— the Garment District has shrunk a lot. Around 20 or 30 years ago companies started sending all their production offshore. My dad would tell me stories of a big designer that he would create something with and then, a while later, you'd see racks of clothing with a flower that was essentially stolen at Macy's or Bloomingdale's. Offshore competition has been a big thing.
Schmalberg, I suppose, has been successful in that we're still here. But there have been some very daunting years. This year has been okay, considering.
During the pandemic, we were closed for three months with zero business. Fortunately, we got the PPP loans and were able to bring everyone back full time, even though there was no work.
The pandemic has definitely changed things. Now, I have meetings or conduct factory tours over Zoom. I had a 45-minute Zoom meeting earlier today with a client in Canada whom we've worked with for 10 years. We were able to virtually shop together which is pretty cool. These are the little perks that my relatives didn't have.
These days people want to know where things are made, understand who made them, and the stories behind them. If everyone shops at Walmart and Amazon because it's easy, independent businesses won’t survive. When people come to Schmalberg, they marvel that we still exist! There are also the people that are nice, but when I tell them, "Oh, this flower's 10 bucks." They're like, "$10? Shouldn't that be 50 cents?”
The system is broken. We've forgotten how much things are supposed to cost. I don't understand the whole import thing. People just don't realize that when things are cheap it’s because they’re made by people who don't get paid well.
We are selling on Etsy and Amazon because we've had to balance. It generates revenue and gives us work. When we're not busy, we can make flowers for Amazon. I know that they will sell within the year. We’ve got to do what we need to do to survive.
- As told to Sarah Cristobal