“In fact,” she continues in her matter-of-fact New Yorkese, “the reason that the police division was created is because Uncle Stewart was always fighting with Uncle Nat; so to give Uncle Stewart something to do and keep the two of them separate, Dad started the police equipment business. Who could imagine that Uncle Stewart’s one-page hand-out would become our 90-page catalogue and that we are now warehousing over 1900 items for wholesale distribution?”
Lloyd Hamburger, Irving’s eldest son, was always groomed to go into the business. When Irving passed away unexpectedly, Lloyd came home immediately after completing his military service in the early ‘50s, and took his place as president of the company, where he remained until 2004. What Irving founded, Lloyd capitalized upon, and the business mushroomed. Polyesters were in existence by then—by themselves and blended with woolens. Hamburger Woolen Company catered to schools, the airline business, hotels, restaurants, casinos, and bands—wherever uniform manufacturers had a use or a need; it still does.
Hamburger sold to everyone, and it became a well known name in the uniform industry, which at that time was located in New York—the hub of world apparel manufacturing. “When I got married, the entire garment industry came to my wedding, because they were all right here,” reminisces Ilene. “My parents’ social friends were also their business colleagues.
Married with two grown children, and a husband who is a physician, Ilene Rosen is one smart cookie. She is a graduate of Tulane University, both in the liberal arts, and with a law degree. She keeps her law license current, and can practice in New York, should she choose to. “I did it for a while,” Ilene moans, “but I hated it. I just hated it.”
When she and her two younger sisters were growing up, Lloyd would take his three daughters on a ritual outing every Saturday morning: Breakfast at the Dairy Famous Restaurant, and a day at the office. They loved it. As the sisters grew and went their separate ways, however, the memories stuck with Ilene. After her experience in the legal world, and some work in the insurance industry, Ilene joined her father when Lloyd needed help at the office; the timing was perfect.
As they expanded over the years, the firm moved from one building to the next, with their most recent quarters in a 15,000 square foot one-story building on Long Island. “Our staff has been with us for at least 20 years, we’re settled, and we’re staying right here,” Ilene mentions.
“We have kept going through some rough times,” she says. More currently, Hamburger has also gone into theme parks, and medical uniforms with its fabrics. It sells specialty fabrications with highly specialized treatments and coatings, and virtually anything that a customer requests as long as it is in solids rather than prints. “We also do stretch fabrics and organics,” Ilene adds.
“We are not a mill; we are a distributor, and that’s an important difference—and we are extremely competitive as a distributor. We are strictly wholesale, and we work with dealers, distributors, and manufacturers.” Hamburger’s longtime commitment to the North- American Association of Uniform Manufacturers & Distributors (NAUMD) is well known.
Asked about being a woman-owned business, Ilene is frank. “I have never had a problem being a woman in business; however, the process of becoming certified as woman-owned business is a lot of work for little or no reward. When this issue came up, I decided to become president of the firm, although Lloyd was older. But it’s just a title. What difference does it make? I never found it a problem to be Lloyd’s daughter. If people can say the kinds of things about me that they say about him, then I am very lucky.”
