Rugnews.com Editorial:
AFTER 30 YEARS, EINSTEIN-MOOMJY
TO CLOSE MANHATTAN STORE
By Lissa Wyman
NEW YORK -- Einstein-Moomjy, an iconic New York retailer, will soon close its Manhattan store. Although the company remains open at three New Jersey locations, the decision to end its 30-year run in Manhattan feels like the end of an era.
I have a history with Einstein-Moomjy that goes back to 1970, when I wrote a story about the company’s spiffy new multi-level headquarters in Paramus, NJ.
The elegant and urbane co-owner Ted Einstein once sold my mother an entire houseful of carpeting. My husband reminds me that Einstein-Moomjy was the first important retailer to buy his Rug-Hold underlay, giving his start-up company much-needed credibility.
I have had a close and affectionate relationship with all the principals and executives of the company. I have taken pictures of them at markets and enjoyed their company at all sorts of industry functions. I think of them as friends.
Einstein-Moomjy had its beginnings in 1948, in an apartment over a butcher shop in Bloomfield, NJ. The original partner was Ted Einstein, who soon joined forces with Albert Moomjy. The first store opened in 1955. Brothers Ernst Einstein and Walter Moomjy soon joined the company. Today, Walter Moomjy is the company president. Both Ted and Ernst Einstein died in the 1990’s and Albert Moomjy has devoted himself to the rug importing business after Walter Moomjy purchased full control of the retail company in the 90’s.
The Einstein-Moomjy flagship is still in Paramus, but about a dozen years ago, it moved about a mile down the Rte 17 highway to an even bigger and more magnificent two-store campus. At that time, E-M was one of the first floor covering stores to branch out into high end home furnishings and home fashions accessories, now mostly sold in a separate store located right next to the floor covering unit. At that time, it was a very big deal for a floor covering store to diversify into home furnishings. In fact, it’s still a big deal. Only a few floor covering retailers have fully embraced the furniture business.
The first Manhattan Einstein-Moomjy store opened in the summer of 1980 in a space designed by the tony New York architectural firm of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. The store was in the design district near Bloomingdale’s and catered to the city’s interior design community.
About four years ago, I attended a grand opening party at the newly-remodeled Manhattan Einstein-Moomjy. That store has remained Einstein-Moomjy’s New York base. It still caters to the high end retail customer, interior designers and architects. Einstein-Moomjy has always been known as an important source for high fashion rugs and floor coverings.
Einstein-Moomjy was one of the first post-war floor covering retailers to establish a true brand in the New York area. In the 60’s and 70’s the company specialized in full-page once-a-week ads in the New York Times. The ads were known for clever headlines such as “Mooms-Day is Coming†People actually read the ads to get a sophisticated chuckle rather than to get the lowest price. And remember, back in those heavy-hitting New York Times ad days, Einstein Moomjy didn’t even have a Manhattan store.
Unlike Allen’s and Kaufman’s, the huge New York area floor covering chains of the 70’s, it was all about the BRAND, not about the price. Allen’s and Kaufman’s are long-gone, by the way.
I don’t know all the reasons for the closing of the Manhattan Einstein-Moomjy store. But I am sorry to see it go. I have always admired the company for its willingness to try new merchandising ideas and new products, and to focus on quality, not price. In a business that has way too much me-too merchandising and unbelievable pricing, Einstein-Moomjy has been a class act, all the way.
And what do YOU think? Use the comment box below or e-mail me at lwyman@rugnews.com
06.08.10