Gorgeous flower displays you can rearrange endlessly. Colorful bouquets and boutonnieres that never wilt. Kaleidoscope centerpieces that stay crisp for years. Bono's elegant lapel pin.
A florist's nightmare? No, it's the day-to-day output of M&S Schmalberg, the largest and last significant manufacturer of handmade custom fabric artificial flowers in the United States. Helmed by one direct descendant or another since its founding by brothers Morris and Sam Schmalberg in 1916, the unassuming assembly and sales operation in the heart of New York City's Garment District today is managed by fourth-generation leader Adam Brand, with his retired father, Warren, checking in almost daily.
A world-class clientele keeps the company busy with orders, and nearly everyone has seen a Schmalberg creation without even knowing it. Visualize the flowers scattered throughout Downton Abbey or cascading across Queen Charlotte's hairdos in Bridgerton. Take a closer look at the blossoms festooning Beyoncé in concert, or the floral accents of Hamilton on Broadway. Seen a Vera Wang with flowers? Think Schmalberg. Been to the Rockettes' show? Watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Sex and the City? This list goes on and on.
Every one a work of art
Take a closer look at the flowers. Each one, from the tiniest blossom to the largest petal, starts life as a bolt of cloth. Through a time-honored process, fabric is starched and templates are cut, stacked, shaped by vintage molds that have been in the family for over four generations. Then the flowers are finished by Schmalberg's small team of artisans.
“We work with everyday folks who value quality at one end of our pipeline; with luxury fashion designers, milliners, costumers, production companies and individual businesses at the other,” says Adam. “We can create branded flowers to any specification and in any quantity for corporate events, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, Broadway shows, movies and TV, you name it.”
When Sam and Morris started the business, New York City was awash in small fabric flower manufacturers. A 1913 Russell Sage Foundation report focused on working conditions for women put the number of shops in the hundreds. Over the years, as demand diminished, the Schmalberg family snapped up one company after another, careful to buy all the tools along with the customer lists. Needn't let competition into the business with easy access to the molds, forms, strike plates and presses that undergird production, the thinking went. By the late 1970s, when Warren started helping his father, only 10 or 15 shops remained.
Thin margins and tough competition
Beyond a strategy of opportunistic consolidation, Adam says, a philosophy handed down over four generations has been key. “Our production comes in pulses,” he explains. For example, with the approach of the annual haute couture Met Gala in New York City, “we'll be crazy with business and then, a week later, we're looking for work.”
On the competitive side of the company, Adam can sum up its existential threat in two words: overseas labor. “Products from overseas are mass-produced and cheaply made,” he says. “If quality and longevity aren't the priority, we get undercut on prices every time.”
Through good times and bad — the Great Depression and then World War II almost spelled the end of the company — a faith in the enduring beauty of flowers has sustained the firm. In the flush years, M&S Schmalberg invests in itself to keep up with manufacturing advances and consumer trends. With a small but dedicated workforce of about 16 full-time employees — some of whom have been with the company longer than Adam's 40 years on Earth — and a strong customer service orientation, the future looks bright.
The managing family name changed through marriage and buyouts years ago, but the Schmalberg name stays on the front door. Adam honors his great-great-uncles Sam and Morris every time he welcomes an intermittent stream of visitors for scheduled, as well as impromptu, factory tours. Fashion schools send students frequently. A march through the 6,000-square-foot plant can take just a few minutes or it can last an hour. Although M&S Schmalberg doesn't run a direct retail operation, nearly everyone who makes the trek to 242 W. 36th St. knows the company beforehand and leaves with a purchase or places an order. The firm enjoys a global reputation and has fans all over.
Luck, survival and faith in the future
“Today's business relies on a combination of things,” Adam says. “Luck — someone is looking out for us; the family's survival instinct – Grandpa survived the Holocaust [and] survived being shot in the neck at the factory in late 1981 trying to break up a confrontation between two employees; and a solid work ethic built on nearly 11 decades of serving all our customers.”
One random bit of luck that father and son love to relate is a cold call one day in 2016 from a production assistant at Martha Stewart's annual American Made Summit. Wary at first that it was a pay-for-play gambit, the Brands were delighted to discover that the event, then in its fifth year, was “a real thing,” and M&S Schmalberg had been selected as one of 10 inductees into Martha's entrepreneurial hall of fame. The resulting publicity via Stewart's global media machine really put M&S Schmalberg on a larger map as the company celebrated its 100th anniversary.
“Custom artificial fabric flowers give us the life we enjoy today,” Adam sums up. “Part of the magic is that every time we have our backs against a wall, something comes through for us.
“The fifth generation, my kids, is in what you might call the toddler stage, but fabric flowers are in our blood. Right now, business is pretty good. The family is very secure.”