Nambé sale takes N.M. firm to another level
The sale of the iconic Nambé company to a foreign owner has a few lessons for all those interested in economic development. First, one could say that the development of Nambé ware back in the 1950s was an early example of a sort of tech transfer in action.
Nambé founder Pauline Cable worked with Martin Eden, a former Los Alamos National Laboratory metallurgist in the early days of what was then called Nambé Mills. He had developed an eight-metal alloy that retained both hot and cold temperatures. She designed bowls and other items to be cast in the foundry, which began in the Pojoaque Valley. Some of her original creations still are sold in the stores, purchased for $12 million this week by a British company that plans to expand the business.
That original company grew, although the Pojoaque foundry was destroyed by fire in 1976 and relocated to Santa Fe, on Agua
Fría Street near Siler Road. It was one of Santa Fe’s few manufacturing businesses. In 1981, the Hillenbrand family purchased the business, continuing to expand. At one time, Nambé employed hundreds of people in Northern New Mexico.
By 1994, the romance between Santa Fe and the company apparently wore off, and newspaper articles from the time show a business that no longer felt welcome. Nambé Mills was criticized as a polluter. It was called a nuisance because of the noise. City councilors claimed working conditions were unsafe.
Even so, the city of Santa Fe agreed to offer Nambé Mills $5 million worth of revenue bonds and 20 acres of land for a new factory. Instead, the company moved to Española, where the products were made in New Mexico until, like so many companies, they took production overseas. Today, aluminum alloy products are manufactured in India. Wooden Nambé items are made in Thailand and the stainless steel flatware in Vietnam.
With the company owners overseas, the move away from its origins is complete. Still, Nambé products are seasoned by their roots here, as well as the company’s continuing commitment to elegant, classic designs. And we trust that anyone smart enough to buy Nambé won’t ruin a good thing.
Nambé is the Portmeirion Group’s first purchase outside the United Kingdom — which says something about the enduring legacy of this brand. The merging of the companies has a few benefits for us locally, too. It will be a treat to be able purchase Spode Christmas ware in nearby shops; even in New Mexico, we love those classic designs.
The purchase seems a good marriage of companies that know their customers, their legacies and want to expand business without betraying either.
As for lessons learned, we wonder if a more business-friendly Santa Fe would have kept such manufacturing jobs closer to home. If so, would those jobs still have migrated overseas, as has occurred with so many industries? Or would other incentives — whether state or local — have kept production here? Now the question is whether manufacturing might return in any significant way, whether Nambé products or other goods.
With New Mexico focusing on diversifying its economic base, one path is making goods here, creating jobs and growing tax revenues for dividends well into the future. Just look at what has happened to Nambé. It may not be made in New Mexico anymore; it hasn’t been for some time. But even with the purchase, the New Mexico portion of the operations, with retail operations and distribution, is slated to remain the same.
The company always will be New Mexico-founded and inspired. Today, its future has gone global even as its roots remain right here in the Land of Enchantment.