Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi, my name is Steven Cohen, one of the owners of M&J Trimming, and I’d like to tell you
a little bit more about our company.
Over 70 years ago, my grandfather had a linen shop, and he was an immigrant, and he used
to come to work late, hang out with his friends drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and
telling stories, and one day his friend needed a loan. So the friend left a roll of lace
on the counter and said: “You know what? Give me $5.00 and I’ll leave this roll of
lace as collateral.” My grandfather said: “No problem, here’s the $5.00. Take it,
it’s yours, no problem.”
He didn’t really care very much about the lace and left it on the counter. A few moments
later a customer walked in and said: “How much is the lace?” He said: “A nickel
a yard.” So he started selling the lace, selling the lace, and selling the lace. A
few days later his friend came back to pay the loan, and my grandfather said: “Forget
about the loan. Bring me more lace!”
And that’s pretty much how we got into the trimming business.
After that, around 1959, my father got out of the army and started changing some of the
aspects of the company, bringing in a lot more product, adding a lot more organization
to the store, and changing things like that. And my father always tells me the story about
the first time they made over $100, that day his father thought he was a genius!
Some of our clients that shop here at M&J are fashion designers, interior designers,
hobbyists, party planners, and even celebrities love to shop here at M&J Trimming. Many of
our customers come to M&J just for inspiration, and this is why it’s so important that we
have decorative windows and beautiful fashion displays, showing our product, giving the
customers inspiration on how to use our different products.
Since M&J has such a wide variety of customers, we have to carry many, many different types
of products. From Swarovski sew-on rhinestones to handbag handles, to tassels, to rhinestone
appliqués, to sequin trims, to flower pins. There are many, many different things that
our customers are looking for, and we’re constantly looking for new products to carry
to satisfy our customers’ needs.
There are a few different ways of shopping here at M&J Trimming. Number one is our flagship
retail location in midtown Manhattan, in the heart of the garment district, with over 5,000
square feet of trimming. The other is our online store at www.mjtrim.com. We also offer
a customer service Call Center where you can call up with any question about any product
that you’re looking for, and they’re there to help you. Or, for larger quantities, we
have a wholesale division that can deal in production and quantities and making whatever
your heart desires.
What makes M&J Trimming unique is that since we’ve been in business for so many years,
we’ve been able to accumulate a wide variety of manufacturers and make many, many different
types of products. And because of that, our customers are very happy when they come in
here they know that they’ll get a wide range of different things to see, and get creative
ideas with, and go from there.
One of the things that hasn’t changed in the past 70 years is that it’s a family
business. Seventy years ago when we first started, it started as a family business,
and today with over 170 employees, we still instill those values of keeping a big, happy
family.
M&J would like to thank all our customers for shopping here through the past years,
and we promise to try to strive for excellence in product selection and customer service.
Thank you.