Vickie Gimbelman’s children continue family publisher’s legacy
The co-founder of long-established American publisher Designer Greetings Bernice “Vickie” Gimbelman has died at the age of 91.
Vickie, as she preferred to be known, was still working right up to her death on Saturday, 15 March, as the executive director of the New Jersey-based business she set up in 1982 with her husband Jack.
Their children Steven and Fern began helping out in the business as youngsters and are keeping their parents’ legacy going, following Vickie’s funeral on Wednesday, 19 March.
“When we created Designer Greetings my mum ran the office and dad ran the business,” said Steven Gimbelman, who took over as CEO and president of the family-owned company when Jack died in 2004, with the company now being the third largest greeting card publisher in North America, employing close to 1,000 staff.
Steven also told the Staten Island Advance news website: “And it was my mum who brought her bookkeeping skills and office skills to the business. It was a perfect match.”
Jack had working in the greeting card industry for many years when he and Vickie set up their own company on their dining room table before moving to a warehouse in an empty firehouse on Staten Island.
Having moved to Edison, New Jersey, in 2009, Designer Greetings now has a pair of 200,000 sq ft buildings, along with a permanent AmericasMart showroom in Atlanta, and has acquired 20 publishers and distributors over the years to expand the business.
The company has always had close links to the UK, further bolstered by it exhibiting at PG Live and also has been a sponsor of The Henries.
Fern Gimbelman Zelekowitz, who is the chief creative officer and assumes responsibilities for running the art department, added: “My mum was just amazing. There are no words to describe the wonderful things people are saying about my mum. She worked up until the end, which is incredible. She was so, so, so, loved. The outpouring of love from everyone is incredible.”
“My mum still came to work every day, and is so well respected by the company but probably by me the most. She has been an amazing role model to me, and I can only hope to grow up to be anything like her!”
