The year was 1959. Donald Moore, a 17-year-old living in rural North Carolina where he was born and raised, was newly married with a baby on the way. He needed a job to support his family but local opportunities were very limited. Knowing his situation, relatives in New York City urged him to come up north, stay with them, and look for a job in the Big Apple where there were more possibilities. “Why not give it a try?” he thought. So, he went up to New York City, went to an employment agency, and noticed an opening at Artbag.
Artbag, founded in 1932 by Hillel Tannenbaum, a former professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, was a Madison Avenue shop that repaired, restored, and crafted handbags. They were known for their attention to detail and craftsmanship, and they had a loyal and illustrious clientele.
Moore interviewed and was offered a job on the spot. For his $1.00/hour pay, his duties included sweeping floors and dusting bags. He got to work before his boss and stayed late. Tannenbaum took notice of Moore’s work ethic, and Moore became Tannenbaum’s protégé, learning pattern-making and handbag construction and restoration. By the 1970s, Moore had a thorough knowledge of the business and craft, and he considered opening his own shop. But, realizing Artbag might soon lose Moore’s valuable talents, in 1976 the owners presented him with the opportunity to buy a small stake in the business from one of the three partners, and he took advantage of it. By 1993, he was the sole owner of Artbag. But there’s “Moore” to the story.
Enter Moore’s son Chris. When Chris was a young boy, he eagerly helped out when his father brought home bags to work on, but he had never entertained joining Artbag. Chris graduated from college in 1992, intending to buy a pizza franchise, but with the recession and a limited job market, that prospect looked less attractive.
“At that same time, unbeknownst to me, my dad was buying out his last partner, and asked if I wanted to come in,” Chris said. “My mother used to call me ‘Shadow’ because wherever Dad was, I wanted to be. He just has that type of personality, engaging and affable. He was my hero. So, I agreed to join the business.” And despite a former Artbag owner who was quite vocal in his belief that the business wouldn’t last with Donald and Chris Moore at the helm, Artbag thrived.
In 1999, Chris became the owner of Artbag, and he, Donald, and Chris’ wife, Estelle, worked together for the past 23 years at their Madison Avenue shop, taking in all kinds of bags, from those purchased on the street to prestigious bags from Hermès, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few. Does a bag need a new silk lining? No problem. Does the zipper need to be replaced? Can do. A strap repaired? Of course. Want to add a compartment? Never say never. Leather repair or refurbishment? Yes.
All of Artbag’s work requires great attention to detail, and Chris Moore enjoys taking the time to explain the craft to customers, and they appreciate learning what goes into making a bag look as good as possible. “For example, the color of your bag is often custom-made. Say you have a black bag,” he said. “It’s probably not black that comes out of the bottle that you just pull off the shelf. There are times you have to painstakingly tint the black to be a great match to the existing bag.”
Artbag often takes in repair bags from other repair houses or shoemakers when the customer is dissatisfied with shoddy work. “We’ve been known to be fairly pricey, but you get what you pay for,” Chris Moore said. “Maybe you got a ’good’ price, but if the stitching is crooked, or the zipper is off line, what purpose did it serve?” Staffed by artisans committed to their craft, Artbag’s philosophy is that if a repair or refurbishment on a favorite bag is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
The number of repair houses has decreased and the quality of workmanship has declined over the years, yet Artbag has always had a high level of workmanship, as evidenced by their many clients, be they everyday people or celebrities like Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Cicely Tyson, and Whoopi Goldberg. Whether it’s maintaining an investment in an expensive, high-end bag, or a bag only rich in its sentimental value, the craftsmen at Artbag achieve results that few, if any, can match. “It’s not that we’re geniuses, it’s that we care,” Chris Moore said. “If a customer is not happy with a bag, even if it’s the most minute detail, I may not sleep that night.”
Artbag also does custom work. If it gets to the point that a bag can’t be repaired, Artbag will duplicate it. One of the first things that Artbag copied was a plastic travel bag from Eastern Airlines. A client loved the bag and couldn’t get it anymore, so Artbag recreated it.
New York was home to Artbag for 90 years, but Chris Moore and his wife decided it was time for a change. While they loved living and working in New York, when COVID-19 hit, they, like many people, reflected and reassessed. “Why are we paying the high Madison Avenue rent and subjecting ourselves to the long and often unpredictable New York City commute?” In contemplating where to move, they initially considered Fort Lauderdale because they vacationed there often, drawn to the area because “it’s a little bit of New York and a lot of Florida at the same time.” But as they thought more about it, they realized that a better demographic for their business was in the Coral Springs area, because it was close to Boca Raton, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale.
So, the Moores bought a house in Coral Springs in August 2021, anticipating that they would move the business close by, which they did, next to the Coral Square Mall. Expecting to open in their new location early this summer, they had to push back the opening until August because Artbag got so much press about leaving New York that local customers were inundating them with bags. As a result, they had to extend their Madison Avenue lease. Although New Yorkers may mourn the fact that they can no longer visit their trusted Madison Avenue shop, they can join the many customers nationwide who mail bags in for Artbag to repair.
Artbag in Coral Springs remains an intergenerational family business. Chris Moore oversees the business; Estelle works the front of the shop, handles administration, and takes bags apart. Donald, who is now 80, trains new hires in the craft. And while Artbag’s location has changed, the deep and long-standing family commitment to quality and craftsmanship has not.
“Joining this business was one of the best moves I’ve ever made in my life,” Chris Moore said. “The only pressure I’ve ever felt working in the family business is the need to not let my dad down. Artbag is his legacy.”
Artbag is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s located at 927 N. University Drive, Coral Springs. For more information: (212) 744-2720; www.artbag.com; Instagram @artbag1130.