Small Business Comeback Tour: Manny Stone Decorators

By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso

MANALAPAN, N.J. (WCBS 880) — This hard-hit business is making a comeback thanks to multiple pivots.

Manny Stone Decorators creates trade show booths for conventions at the Jacob Javits Center and other local sites. Running the business the last two years has been an “acrobatic act” for second-generation president Lloyd Stone.

“I decided I need to either prepare to go out of business or prepare for the new normal. And it was a parallel route,” said Stone on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.

He downsized his production studio, and from there, Stone transformed his operations from custom-made booths to prefabricated ones.

“I call them ‘booth in a box,'” he said.

The “booth in a box” includes instructions, prefabricated materials and a floor plan. Stone also makes himself available to FaceTime his clients from the convention center.

“I would give them virtual direction by seeing how they’re doing it and instructing them on what the priority should be on how to fabricate things.”

Manny Stone Decorators, founded by Stone’s father Manny, has created booths for S’well, Mac Duggal, Micro Wheels and other popular brands.

“My whole concept is, ‘We will get you going. We’ll get you noticed,'” said Stone.