Funeral services were held March 19 at Congregation B’nai Jeshuran in West Brighton, New York, for Bernice “Vickie” Gimbelman, co-founder of Designer Greetings.
Mrs. Gimbelman, 91, died March 15 at her home in the Manor Heights neighborhood of Staten Island, New York.
A native of the Bronx, New York, Mrs. Gimbelman entered the work force as a secretary in Manhattan during the 1950s, where she honed her organizational and managerial skills. She married Jack Gimbelman in 1959, and the couple would eventually relocate to Coney Island, where their two children were born.
In 1973, the Gimbelman family would cross the Verrazzano-Narrows and settle in the Manor Heights section of Staten Island in the Willowbrook/Meiers Corners area.
Her late husband had been part of a greeting card company business partnership in Brooklyn, where he picked and processed orders. He bought out his partners and started Designer Greetings in 1982 with his wife.
“When we created Designer Greetings, my mom ran the office and dad ran the business,” said CEO and President Steven Gimbelman. “And it was my mom who brought her bookkeeping skills and office skills to the business. It was a perfect match.”
The family first ran Designer Greetings from their dining room table and later from an empty firehouse in Mariners Harbor. It was later, at 250 Arlington Ave. in the same North Shore community, where the business began to flourish.
“We built the building in 1990, which was 25,000 square feet, and then we relocated to Edison, New Jersey, in 2009 to a 130,000-square-foot building,” Steven Gimbelman said.
“And we later added another 80,000 square feet and built an adjoining building of over 200,000 square feet. Over the years through acquisitions, we’ve acquired 20 greeting card publishers and distributors, which added to our growth.”
It has grown today to become the third largest greeting card publisher in North America, producing one of the most extensive and award-winning lines in the United States and employing nearly 1,000 people.
Steven Gimbelman’s sister, Fern Gimbelman Zelekowitz, is the chief creative officer and runs the art department. And after their father’s death in 2004, Steven Gimbelman assumed his current role.
“We acquired the Cardsmart trademark in 2006, and we have been very blessed to have a wonderful company and wonderful parents who had the ability to start the company in 1982,” he said.
Added his sister, “My mom was just amazing. She was involved with Pioneer Woman and the Staten Island Leukemia Association and did charity work at Temple B’nai Jeshuran. There are no words to describe the wonderful things people are saying about my mom. She worked up until the end, which is incredible. She was so, so, so loved. The outpouring of love from everyone is incredible.
“Even people who knew her for a year, they told me how special my mother was. And they didn’t have to do that. They said we just have to tell you how much we loved your mother, who was 91 but was really 12 years old. She was a kid at heart … such a joyful, loving person.”
Zelekowitz went on to note how her father taught her about honesty.
“My father was a very honest man. His word … you could take it to the bank. That was something really important growing up. I really admired that about him. I learned that from him. And I think, not only the employees but the customers also respected him for his honesty. That was very important.”
Zelekowitz credited her mother with bringing into the family “the love [and] taking care of the employees.”
“I think that’s where my brother and I learned how Designer Greetings was going to continue to be. My mom still came to work every day and was so well respected by the company – but probably by me the most. She has been an amazing role model.”
In addition to her children, Mrs. Gimbelman is survived by two grandchildren, Lex Zelekowitz and Julia Gimbelman.