Steven Meyer and Kevin Meyer

00:01 My name is Kevin Meyer. I'm 59 years old. Today's date is February 23rd 2020 and we are at Toy Fair in New York City.

00:13 My interview partner is my brother Steven and he's my brother. My name is Steven Meyer. I just turned 58 so usually I'm two years younger than my brother who just spoke today's date is February 23rd 2024 in New York City the name of my interview partner is Kevin Meyer and he is my older brother.

00:44 We're here to talk about our family company. Mary Meyer is a third-generation business started by my grandmother and her and her husband. Her name was Mary Meyer. His name is Hans Meyer.

01:02 Steven what's your first recollection of either the Mary Meyer is a business or a gram as we called her.

01:12 My Recollections of her she she moved out. We all know she moved out of New York City back in when she was probably around thirty years old but New York City never moved out of Graham, right? She wore that leopard skin coat and that leopard-skin hat throughout all the years. I knew her and she had her long red nails perfect nails and I thought that was kind of normal for for a grandmother and she she like to talk about New York. She never came back here. Once he moved to Vermont which is where we're located now and I would like to come down here for Toy Fair. She always ask about New York. How is New York? Where did you stay? Oh my God. That's Hell's Kitchen. That's a place God forgot and she really am.

02:12 So my memories of her kind of Center on on how her being kind of fancy and not quite in place up in Vermont.

02:23 Ryan what are your earliest memories of her? Well speaking of when she was.

02:29 Her life in New York before she moved to Vermont. We heard countless stories about her dad being the maitre d or head waiter at the hotel Astor in the twenties, which I guess was a big deal. You got to make reservations for all this for all the stuff that stage Stars at the time as she like to say she kind of he kind of covered up the boyfriends and girlfriends that some of the stage Stars had it was a pretty prestigious position in that he knew a lot of people. I don't know they was not like he became famous himself, but he knew a lot of people so she had that

03:24 We heard that story many times growing up. Also she went to dressmaking school while she was down here when she was in her twenties that's sort of where she got her first taste of design and and she translated that into a later into stuffed toys. So that was the New York inn in Graham.

03:48 Then she moved out to Vermont and never look back. What's youth? Tell me what your most happy memories are of her.

03:58 Probably the fact that

04:02 That when we were kids in high school, she used to make used to make it put her talents to work making stuff making clothes for for us or better than that. She made a blanket for each of us and what she did was she took the summer leftover materials more or materials that we're currently using in making stuffed toys and she made a blanket for each of us. So at 18 years old. I went off to college with my fairy around furry black blanket on one side and n on the other side. It was white with confetti Speckles and it just fit my bed perfectly at College it was

04:50 I don't know if it was it was good A Good Taste of Home. Did you get a lot of ribbing from that now? It was a real it was a real chick magnet. She also did make us she made us each a shirt at one point or a vest at one point and I think there was five of five brothers. I think we each had an identical western-style.

05:17 Button-down snap down the shirt. I think that you had before they became popular and we are trendsetters not only where they've had but each of the five of us had one and it was

05:30 They're okay to wear one at a time, but we didn't wear them to school at the same time. That was that was one of the funny things about her. Also was the fact that I used to I learned how to drive a stick shift with her. She was he wasn't as much of it as a creative person as we knew her she was more of a business woman and every month, she had a business group in the local town about 15 miles away that we we got to drive her to she went there and also to the chiropractor in Sochi, we enjoyed driving her back and forth. I get to learn on how to drive a stick on her for Speed on the column vellarikka, but it was it was fun time to spend.

06:22 With Graham and how about yourself? And she did she did know how to drive. It's not like she grew up in New York and didn't have a driver's license fee. She drove and she had her own car, but she gave us plenty of opportunities to the practice are driving as teenagers so we could show her around.

06:40 My my favorite memories of her are just spending time at our house so I can go down there for overnights and she would sit in her chair. She only had one TV channel that she would could get at their house. And so there was nothing ever on and she would sit in her chair and she wouldn't it and she would talk to me about how my my friends were doing. What my what my

07:08 What I was doing in school, I mean I grew up as you know, there's six of us in the family six kids and dad was always working mom was struggling to take care of us and they didn't have much time to pay attention to me. So going down the grams is great. She'd sit there and shoot ask me questions for 2 hours and total attention from a adult. I was probably 10 years old at the time. So that was a those are really great memories of her and down. The road was was older Italian man who ran a little package store in it and had a gas pump out front and his name was Patsy. I'm not sure why that was his name, but his name was Patty and I remember stopping in there.

07:54 And you'd say that you know Steven did you know that your grandmother is the only person I pump gas for no one else do I do that for him? Like why is that patchy because I don't know how she pulls up. She honks the horn and I went out there and did it once and I'm just never said no ever test the New Yorker in a few years later when we had coats that had Mary Meyer written on them embroidered on him. I remember him commenting to me one day. You must think you're pretty special walking around here with your grandmother's name on your account. You're the only guy I know runs around with the name of his grandmother on in front of his coat.

08:39 So this is small town, you know small town stories.

08:46 How do you think he was at running the business?

08:50 Like I said, she she I saw her lesson the designing and of it more in the financial end of it. I don't know that she necessarily knew much about the finances of a company. I think that's sort of what she evolved into after my dad Walter became more involved in and took over a lot of the manufacturing in the designing. She was more in the business and that she got the precious she got older into her 70s.

09:22 Like a good business person she took it and she took everything personal. She she was pleased when things went. Well, it was her business with her name on it. I do remember because I was in the financial and with her when I was in high school. I remember that when things went well things went well and there was times when things weren't so well we had we had one account and this is probably in 19.

09:51 80 that we had one account that was chronically slow paying us and finally at one point that the chain of Hallmark stores file for bankruptcy. And oh my God for 20 years after that anytime. I want to get a rise out of my grandmother was the fact that I just I just had to bring up the name of the owner of that. It would send her into a tizzy. So, yep. She you she was a business person for Winthrop. She when she wasn't particularly warm and fuzzy like many grandmother. She was she was I think she was warm and fuzzy. It was actually when we were really young. I think he was a good grandmother as we get older. Yeah, we're teenagers and maybe want to have a little less to do with your your warm and fuzzy grandmother.

10:40 She's warm fuzzy to me. Anyway, maybe she could maybe she liked better. Maybe that was it.

10:52 Kind of walkthrough

10:54 Sure, I think Steven Steven had a good start to it in that you'll picture head hurt in Vermont where it's black and red plaid and flannel and here she is in her long red impeccable Nails. She always had a pantsuit on with a brooch or she had on WE referenced her Shadow leopard spotted coat that she made herself with a satin lining and a pillbox leopard matching. I always remember her striking gray hair white hair. She always had a big big head of white hair and Class B big earrings in a pearl necklace pearl necklace. She was kind of fancy for Vermont especially back then.

11:46 She

11:50 She was not really a country woman. She she was always a little bit never saw her and blue jeans or no by always wearing a pantsuit rarely saw her to dress even did. You know, I remember her in one spending nights there in her jammies.

12:15 Yeah, cuz my grandfather passed away in 1965. So neither one of us knew him very well. She was always a widow for most of our lives. So she lived alone.

12:27 I choose right the mile down the road from where we grew up so he wasn't far away.

12:34 What we may remember more is our is

12:38 Is working with my dad who is the second generation? He was the one who worked there for 30 years and managed managed to get Mary Meyer from 15 employees to 115 employees. He was the one who leaned on us to come to the family business. Once we got out of college. He was the outside we had that influence day in Day Out

13:08 So What attracted you to coming back to Mary Meyer Stevens

13:14 Well, it was not part of the plan. That's for sure. I was always interested in Art and Design.

13:21 Went to art school for full four-year degree in product design and I had a couple different opportunities right after I graduated I could have gone to Dallas. I've had a job offer in Dallas had a job offer in New York City and I had a job offer from coleco, which was the Cabbage Patch company down in the Hartford and each one of those weren't quite the right fit for what I want to do. So I stayed up in Vermont work for an ad agency and not

13:56 What was the 1986-87 when Mary Meyer was really in trouble. Most of our competitors have gone overseas for production was was really struggling with the business. Take to keep it going. I was living in Brattleboro, and he called me and said Steven. I need you. Can you come back for one year?

14:20 And I said

14:22 Yes. I'll do that.

14:24 But it's only for a year.

14:26 And I

14:28 That was what 31 years ago. Been a long year.

14:33 But that's that's okay. It's each year got a little better in a little better and the design Department Grew From Me just setting up a table basically out in the production room two. Now, I'm having three or four full-time employees designing toys and and myself traveling to shows the traveling to Asia and really doing it doing a lot. So it's it's turned out to be really pretty fun.

15:05 What What attracted you do to spend your life at Mary Meyer?

15:10 Well, first of all was the fact that it was in Vermont we grew up in Vermont and I loved being outdoors and in high school. I was going to become a forest while I realized that there it wasn't great money in forestry plus as I was approaching college-age or in college. I realized you know what Mary Meyer could really use some more help. So I went to college knowing full well that I was going to be working from Mary Meyer when I get done I went to business school and married at Mary and majored in accounting and finance, which is one of the things we needed help in and I started the Tuesday after I graduated from college no break. No.

16:00 I did talk my dad into.

16:03 Letting me have a month off to go cross-country with friends in September after I graduated which he agreed to but I started right after I got out of college. I wanted to be in Vermont because I like skiing. I liked hiking. I like biking. I didn't want to sit in traffic driving in from New Jersey into Manhattan. I didn't want to be part of the rat race.

16:30 So

16:35 That's why I know how I got involved and I haven't I haven't looked back from them either. It's been you were always a numbers guy. I don't think you would make a good for $3 for each of us. I don't know how my dad managed to run a business doing all all the things wearing all the hats that we all know, there's four of us doing what he used to do by himself. So and I guess as one of his one of his one of his sayings was Jack of all trades master of none, and I think that's I think he probably

17:20 Didn't get the master any of them could be it was.

17:26 There is the opportunity there and

17:30 And it's worked out well.

17:33 Steven what are you how did you feel about what did you like about we had to actually sort of grew up in a toy factory. Yeah.

17:43 I didn't realize that it was so unique back when we are growing up having a toy factory in the backyard. I mean literally in the backyard, where are the kids had? I don't know maybe a barn in the backyard or nothing in the backyard of a play gym. We had a toy factory with what 60 employees at the time and mostly mostly women. The Detroit Factory was centered on sewing because that's the most labor and laborious part of making a toy, but

18:17 Dad built that factory starting eat start out of the barn if he took the barn and renovated it and as the company expanded we know that he added rooms and it was really interesting that that toy factory was separated into the different rooms for each each step of the production. So there was a Cutting Room. There was a sewing room there was a stuffing room. There was a finishing room and there's a shipping room

18:50 Those who is good funny. That's what you talked about. It was. Okay, Steven got to The Cutting Room. See if they need any help. What's the answer to that was always? Yes, right. Remember we were never sent to the sewing room because we didn't sell stuffing machines were big and not necessarily dangerous, but we we didn't they didn't send us to the stuffing room and the finishing room. I'd always have to help out putting faces on toys or helping a boxing's up and they even in the shipping room. I would help late in the afternoon after school shipping boxes, but we had to put the postage stamps on boxes yet. Everything was shipped by parcel post and you would put literally put 20 stamps on a box Bruce Cuts would write down like $4.52 on the box and I have to find $4.52 worth of stamps and then put them on the box and then even stamp it with a with a post with that with

19:50 Postmark Technologies

19:57 Because it was after school and we can go to school till 2:30 or 3 everyday after school. One of my jobs was to sweep as a place needed cleaning every single day. So I sweep The Cutting Room sweep the sewing room and dad would pay me $0.25 a room to sweet boy. Was he a cheapskate?

20:19 Hey. I even remember Bruce cuts at one point. He was his like forming at the time and he said I want to be able to eat off that floor when you're done sweeping and I was just a kid I'd like I took him to him seriously and I do remember spending like an extra 3 hours out there one night sweeping cuz I thought Bruce really was going to try eating off the floor.

20:45 But it was it was a unique way to grow up. What do you think of having a teddy bear shop in the backyard? It was fun.

20:59 At times it was it wasn't great cuz you know, maybe your classmates made fun of you because you work if you're there with a bunch of women and you guys make toys. I mean, it's not I don't know. It's been stop twice at stop. Wait till I tell him dolls making it all. Can you get to appreciate it was funny. I remember.

21:28 Thinking it was so strange cuz the ladies would get out of work everyday at 3:30. They start early they start at 7, and they may be done work at 3:30. And we just gotten back from school and they'd all leave at 3:30 and they say goodnight. Goodnight. Goodnight. I always thought that was so strange. It's like it's middle of the afternoon. Why are they saying goodnight to this day if you stand by the exit of the warehouse at Mary Meyer when people leave today at 4:30 people still say goodnight. Goodnight. Goodnight. You you could hear it tomorrow if you stand there.

22:01 Just some things don't change.

22:07 Do you what do you feel is Ben?

22:11 Satisfying about your career or working at Mary Meyer.

22:18 I'm a product guy. I love working with a product and I feel because I'm part of the family. I have pretty free rein to create whatever I want doesn't mean it's going to make the line. I mean, we do have a process for for evaluating whether product you know is sellable, but I have pretty free rein to to create within within the confines of of our department which is, you know, quality fabrics and don't pay attention to cost and safety and and in the seasons

23:00 I like that. I also like the fact that I get to work with my family. There's four of us in the in the business and that's been rewarding maybe the next Generation coming up through will join us. One of them at has so far. We'll see if any more of them will

23:21 And that's been rewarding and also.

23:26 Being able to tell Mom and Dad struggled for so many years and there were a lot of years were our family toy company didn't make much of any money and today, you know, it's a nice profit business and I think we're it's been very rewarding to have Mom and Dad live long enough to see its success even though you know dad passed away almost a year ago. He really I think live to see the blossom. So my grandmother was one who founded it. She you know, she has her name on the account.

24:15 Gets a somewhat the notoriety out of it, but my dad is the one who worked there for 35 years and

24:25 Me to go from 15 employees to 115 employees and it was great at times and it was challenging at other times. He at one point had to lay off over time a hundred people are close to a hundred people as we transition from working in the US to to making our products overseas and Stephen said it wasn't great for about 2 years. So it's been nice to take care of my parents because they certainly gave us the opportunity to to work there and they do that. That's what I remember about it or that's what I like about it. My dad was my dad was always content with you didn't have to have a big car you didn't have to we never went on vacations growing up. Oh my God my friends.

25:19 They are friends at camps on the lake. Are they got to go this place of that place? They don't mean to be ocean where the water is freezing cold. We went to New Jersey twice for vacation is just what we did and we didn't know any different and we only went there cuz Mom had a cousin on the beach.

25:41 But one thing about Dad God he was he was proud of having four kids in the business. So it kind of feels good to have made made a success of it made it so he didn't have to worry about what he was where his money was the last few years he could do whatever he wanted. He actually took up he took up working on websites. He had he had his own website. We are heat where he he was selling things. He got back into his art and doing his drawings that he had put off for 40 years. It was it's very reassuring do to be able to do that for your for your parents. So my my job description was basically get it to the next generation and

26:35 Probably if if I did with a publicly held company or wasn't a family company. I would have been fired a long time ago because we didn't grow fast enough for a warrant probable. But it was nice having the opportunity to have a long-range view of things work for your family.

26:53 Just get it. Everybody's on board with how we're doing. Make it a success.

27:00 Do you think much has changed since dad passed away last March?

27:06 Sure, there's even though he became less and less involved. He

27:12 His personality is his presence isn't in the building as much. All right, right. Well, he worked less and less but he still worked plenty. I mean he was there 3 days a week or sometimes 5/2 days a week right up until the age of 86 or 87.

27:30 One thing you did that it had a big booming voice and he didn't believe in using the telephone it was it was a yell when he needed us. It was his his own personal intercom system with the top of it right in the way that our offices are set up. It's it's a sort of a sort of a barn structure and there's an open Atrium from the ground floor all the way up to the third floor and his office was on the ground floor and if he needed me, all he did was just yell cuz I'm up in the top loft where the design department is. And you know, if you would just hear here. I am 56 years old still running down to help Dad do whatever it is. I think he suddenly has no patience to wait for someone else to help them.

28:22 Yes, I kind of miss his voice. Maybe I don't miss being Bellow that to come and help it. You know, he's his the absence of his voice is definitely felt around the building.

28:39 Do you think the the company's goals have changed over time?

28:53 Yeah, I think probably the fact that now after over 85 years in business at we kind of take it day today, but we've been there 30 years and all of a sudden you realize why was Mary Myers been in business for over 85 years. What is now 87 88 years. You don't appreciate it. At first until you had enough people say to you now. You've been a busy at that lot. That's a long time.

29:24 I believe we've come to appreciate that over the past 10 years that you know what that's a long time. That's a lot of

29:34 Coronavirus has that's a lot of Justice stop that can go wrong at there's a lot of Sweden. You're maybe your production got too expensive in one country went to another country. That's more recently. You have a material problems you have labor, but it's you now have the internet and Amazon comes if it's just a lot of things change over that time some of it more recent than now there's some bigger than some and some smaller problems, but fortunately we've been able to have we're able to take a long-term view of things.

30:13 And I think more recently we've come to appreciate that and appreciate the the Mary Meyer brand at so I I think we're putting we're now putting additional resources toward the brand itself making sure that that's successful and me and really putting the brand out there be over 80 years of longevity is it is a challenge. I've been spent the day at toy fair and you walk around Toy Fair. The main floor here is full of really Sensational by catching products. Lots of Glitz. Lots of bright colors of everything looks new and snazzy.

30:58 And that's people get excited about that. It looks good on on video. It looks it looks good online. And I think of a story like ours is quiet and it doesn't get the attention of the media but it does resonate with almost everyone. Everyone has a family everyone grew up with with probably parents and grandparents that spent decades at the same at the same job, and maybe we're just a living nostalgic brand trying to stay contemporary today and in doing a pretty good job of that but that's sort of the way I feel Mary Meyer where we are today. It's it's we've been around for 87 years. We are staying contemporary by the same time. We have our our history and there's no denying that a lot went on over there.

31:58 Last few decades that was that was a a challenging and it also rewarding

32:07 Getting Grandma. I'm sorry. Do you think Grandma would recognize Mary Meyer today or what? Would she find familiar?

32:16 I think because her roots are in the design and of the business and the fabric end of the business, I think she would be impressed and love the designs that we're doing good products that were making some of the new materials that have been developed some of the maybe the embroidery patches that were putting on items or the use of different Fabrics because of her background. I think she would find that

32:44 I think she be pretty.

32:47 Impress. I think she'd be pretty interested in that because it is interesting. It's it's the use of new Fabrics is always is always fun and and pretty deep anything to do. I feel like the product still has a lot of heart and that's what she that's what she loved about creating stuffed toys. And I think he'd be very very happy to know that we're much more of a baby toy company than we used to be and that we're supplying it sound creating and selling products that are really just beautiful products. I'd like to think she would be very proud of that and might even surprise her at how really great the products are today.

33:34 Did Graham think that all of you all would stay and work at the company?

33:41 Probably at that at that time.

33:47 Yeah, people weren't his mobile it as we are now, I think she she certainly thought they would be opportunity for us if we elected to stay and

34:01 Yeah, but I think we are pretty well established in our adult lives Kevin and Adam quite a few kids by that time. I don't know by the time she passed away. Yep. Couple only a couple. Okay. Well love you. He has like a million children.

34:25 It wouldn't surprise that we all stayed. I think it would surprise her was just how well we're doing today. And that our toy company now is as a strong brand that the Mary Meyer is a sort of a a designer label in the industry and especially the baby industry and she heard the first two decades of his business really was a struggle because there was no consumer culture really in the thirties and forties. I mean toys back then we look at ourselves not only in the toy business but also the gift industry and people weren't necessarily buying gifts in the 30 1930s. How many how many baby showers do you think Grandma Mary went to in real life?

35:14 Any maybe only cuz your dad new people. Well today, you know, baby businesses are baby. Showers are a big part of our business and people people buy gifts for each other. There's there's a lot of

35:33 A lot of products are purchased today. So she started her business in the thirties when there wasn't a whole lot of Industry to it was a woman starting the business. Yeah, that must have been a struggle. I can't imagine.

35:48 We kind of take it for granted I guess.

35:51 I wonder how her father thought I'd never really considered how Grandpa Great Grandpa Lorraine would have. We must have reacted to her and Grandpa and starting a business. I mean, I had to be a pretty radical move back in 1933.

36:15 Funny stories or memorable stories. I think I really like this Dynamic of your whole family is also called.

36:25 Yeah.

36:35 Well, my brother might my grandmother lived in a house right behind Mary Meyer moved one mile down the road and built a new Factory in 1970. And Mike's was 50 years ago grandmother's house.

36:53 Occupied the the land she was on a corner of the land and then they rebuilt the factory in front of her house. There's a nice distance, but she would back to work each day. She would back out of her garage and back up to her parking spot probably about 300 yards. Yes, and then at the end of the day, she would drive forward again. So she took cheat any mileage she put on her car. She basically took off her car and today my brother Michael lives in that house and he basically does the same thing and that's the God's honest truth if you really did.

37:36 Other than that there was well.

37:40 I remember growing up to see my mom always remember remind us at the time that we brought a snake into the manufacturing into the factory and at that time was off 30 40 and 50 year old.

37:56 Housewives in there that we're doing all the production work and my brother Michael Henry comes again walked in with a snake and let it I think it got loose or I had to get low. I think it just freaked everyone else them all out.

38:12 How is it was just something that happened. I think my first the first drink is the first drink alcoholic drink I ever had was there with my dad. He he was working Library this he's working one night.

38:29 At about 7 or 8 at night and it was the right behind our house. The factory is right behind our house and he he called him and he said that he asked me to get him a cup of wine. So I went into the house and my mom poured him a cup of wine while he was working. I think I took a sip or two on the way out. And I think that was my first Buzz I ever got off of it was alcohol is bringing him his his glasses in a cup of wine and to this day. We we joked about with him and white by grandmother. We'd always spill some sheets. You'd want the drinkard a glass of wine.

39:07 We gave her a glass of wine and it would be missing just enough to to know that we had a bunny rabbit that we had designed. And for some reason I don't know why it went to a customer but a bunch of them came back and some for some reason they were returned and this truck driver.

39:33 Spent the night out in back of the warehouse with his truck running with the refrigerating unit in this truck running and he was kept the The Bunny the boxes of bunny cold for the tiny left wherever Boston New York, whatever until he came to Mary Meyer and then for the rest of night kept them cold and when we arrive at work the next morning, I like what's going on with the refrigerator truck. What are you returning? He said I'm returning your carrot cake and like carrot cake.

40:07 What do you mean carrot cake goes? There's a bunch of boxes here. They're labeled carrot cake. I've been keeping them cold since I left New York the name of our stuff bunny taking that box. Oh my God. He he laughed we all laughed and it seems I might think the guy was like not happy at all.

40:31 Okay.

40:34 So you think this?

40:38 Then this is this an American Dream success story Kevin. I think it is.

40:45 You know, it's up to my neck with Graham and Griffin's it was it was two immigrants to New York City. They they started a business one was it went to design school for to learn to learn how to design product line. Grandpa was the salesman. He went out on the road selling the product. They had a couple of kids. They moved to the country to get away from the rat race. They moved the country for health reasons. They managed to get get the country to keep the company growing and you know, it hasn't changed and immigrant family.

41:20 Family kids working we grew up working and I think today you find an immigrant family and yet they're still all working together to make their businesses Thrive that hasn't changed hard work Integrity first generation second generation 3030 action.

41:39 Work hard

41:41 Working nights as part of the American dream. It's been awesome.