News

Bernice (Vickie) Gimbelman, a respected business entrepreneur and an innovative visionary leader who co-founded Designer Greetings with her husband, Jack, died at the age of 91 on March 22 in her home in Staten Island, New York, with her family by her side.

Born Bernice Landberg in the Bronx, she 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 later moved to Coney Island and had two children, Steven and Fern.

Prior to founding Designer Greetings, Jack had been an integral part of a greeting card company business partnership in Brooklyn, where he picked and processed orders, according to SILive.com. He bought out his partners and created Designer Greetings with Vickie.

As a family-owned-and-operated business founded in 1982, Designer Greetings now produces one of the most extensive and award-winning greeting card lines in the United States.

Vickie Gimbelman is survived by her son, Steven (Ania) and Fern (Neil) Zelekowitz, and grandchildren, Lex Zelekowitz and Julia Gimbelman.

Fern is the chief creative officer and assumes responsibilities running the art department. After Jack’s passing in 2004, their son Steven became the CEO and president of the company.

“When we created Designer Greetings my mom ran the office and dad ran the business,” Steven Gimbelman told SILive.com, and added they are now the third largest greeting card publishers in North America that employs close to 1,000 full time and part time staffers. “And it was my mom who brought her bookkeeping skills and office skills to the business. It was a perfect match.”

The Gimbelman family originally ran Designer Greetings from their dining room table and later from a warehouse in an empty firehouse in Mariners Harbor. In 1990, the family built a building at 250 Arlington Ave. — where the business began to flourish. In 2009, Designer Greetings relocated to Edison, New Jersey, and later added another 80,000 square feet and built an adjoining building of over 200,000 square feet, Steven added. Over the years, the company has acquired over 20 greeting card publishers and distributors.

“My mom was just amazing,” Fern told silive.com. “She was involved with Pioneer Woman and the Staten Island Leukemia Association and did charity work at Temple B’nai Jeshuran and 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.”

Read her full obituary at silive.com.