Born in Brooklyn. Built to Last.
Our story began on the docks of New York harbor in the summer of 1922, where Morris Sackser and Max Bertash were introduced as young men. Combining their names, they started a ship chandler business, supplying and servicing ships and freighters. They soon opened a retail store on the Brooklyn waterfront at 5 Hamilton Ave.
Max helped the business survive the Great Depression by taking a job as a push cart inspector while Morris manned the store. In the 1940s, they relocated to Manhattan where they operated across from Pier 57 until the early 1960s, selling everything from uniforms to candybars to seamen and longshoremen.
After getting through the Great Depression and World War II, Mormax continued to operate and adapt through other crises including the 1970s oil embargoes, the 1990s dot-com bubble, and most recently a Global Pandemic.
A Century and Beyond.
Fast forward to the 2000s. Mormax has moved on from supplying ships to supplying hotels, sports venues, veterinarian offices, rehab hospitals, and more.
The Mormax of today has been shaped by the numerous challenges of its yesterdays. We have adapted and thrived by continually pivoting to meet the needs of a given era.
Now, nearly 100 years later, we approach a century milestone. Through it all we have thrived by building business relationships on our foundational values of honesty, transparency, and integrity.
Much has changed since our humble beginnings in 1922, but building trusted relationships is one thing that will never change.