On Hester Street between Orchard and Allen sits a green storefront with gold lettering that reads “Mendel Goldberg Fabrics,” proudly boasting its year of establishment: 1890.
When Goldberg began his eponymous business more than 130 years ago, the Lower East Side was a neighborhood teeming with Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe — Goldberg and his wife, Chana Henna, had themselves arrived in New York City in the late 19th century, fleeing antisemitism in Poland.
Like so many other entrepreneurial immigrants, he sold thread from a pushcart. Eventually, the pushcart turned into a brick and mortar store at 72 Hester Street — where the business has remained ever since.
Today, the business is owned and operated by Alice Goldberg (Wildes), Mendel’s great-granddaughter and the fourth-generation owner of Mendel Goldberg Fabrics.
“My father taught me to follow the Jewish laws of business,” Goldberg said. “It’s critical; the laws of the weights and measures; always pay your help and your suppliers before you take any money; close Shabbat and Yom Tov.”
Every fabric is also checked for shatnez — meaning that if it contains both linen and wool, it is prohibited by Jewish law. “If you follow the laws, you’re gonna do OK,” she said. “That’s what he [her father] taught me.”
Source: NY Jewish Week