Every Stitch Counts

Conrad Embroidery Company is proud to have been supplying the Armed Forces with patches since World War II. Our longevity, ingenuity, and technical capabilities separates us from the rest, as we continue to serve our wide range of customers.

Our History

  • 1867

     

    Albin Wunderlich is born on a farm in a village in the state of Saxony, Germany.

  • 1892

     

    Albin starts his embroidery business in the small town of Oelsnitz.

  • 1908

     

    Albin’s daughter Elsa married Kurt Erwin Conrad

  • 1909

     

    Kurt Erwin opens his embroidery business in Oelsnitz the same day his son, Erich Henry Conrad, is born.

  • 1914

     

    Kurt shutters his business and goes to war, serving in France, Turkey, and on the Russian Front — where he is taken prisoner in 1916.

  • 1918

     

    During the Bolshevik Revolution, Kurt Erwin is freed along with other POW’s inside Russia and left to find his own way home.

  • 1919

     

    Kurt Erwin has his business up and running the very next year.

  • 1920’s

     

    Post war chaos, hyper-inflation, and anarchy lead to the near collapse of German civil society. Adding to the misery, flappers are in and embroidery is out of fashion.

  • 1929

     

    The stock market crashes.1929

  • 1929

     

    Seeing no future in Germany, Erich Henry sails to the United States on USS Roosevelt, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey with $4.68 on Christmas Eve.

  • 1932

     

    Erich Henry returns to Germany and marries his sweetheart, Anni Ilse Schnauder.

  • 1933

     

    Anni, together with her infant daughter, Annerose, immigrate to the U.S.

  • 1940

     

    Erich Henry’s second child, Bernhard is born.

  • 1941

     

    Erich Henry starts Conrad Embroidery Company in West New York, New Jersey.

  • 1951

     

    Following the tragic and unexpected death of Anni, Erich Henry is advised to incorporate a second company. Given the stress and unexpected circumstances, he simply names the new company A-B. “A” for Annerose and “B” for Bernhard.

  • 1961

     

    Bernhard apprentices for better part of one year at one of the largest Brazilian manufacturers of traditional embroidery.

  • 1962

     

    A-B Emblem produces the original NASA logo.1963

  • 1963

     

    In the spring ground is broken for a new and expanded factory in Weaverville, North Carolina. By mid-November the factory is up and running and Erich Henry, along with his second wife, Johanna, and Bernhard have relocated.

  • 1980’s

     

    Low cost low quality imports begin to flood the market. A-B Emblem pushes hard and invests heavily to keep the business in the United States of America.

  • 1991

     

    Paul Conrad, Bernhard’s son and Andrew Nagle, his son-in-law, join A-B Emblem.

  • 1992

     

    Erich Henry dies unexpectedly.

  • 1995

     

    A-B’s first foreign enterprise, Embemas Bordados de Mexico, SA de CV, Tecali de Herrera, Puebla, south of Mexico City, starts operations.

  • 2005

     

    A-B’s second foreign enterprise, Qingdao Emblem Manufacturing, commences operations in Laixi, Shandong Province, China.

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Our Process

Step 1: Design

Get started by sending us your design, desired size, backing type, and order quantity. 

If you don’t know the exact amount you’re wanting to order, feel free to send us a range and we’ll price multiple quantities for you. 

If you need a little help creating a design, just let us know what shape, elements, and colors you’d like to see and our in-house design team will work their magic.

Step 2: Quote

After we’ve received your design information, we’ll get started on pricing, which usually only takes about 24-48 hours. 

If you are placing an order for an official military patch, we will also send you a scanned proof of your patch along with your quote. 

Step 3: Order

Once we’ve sent you your quote, all that’s left is to place your order!

Click the link in your quote to pay online, or give your rep a call. After we receive your payment, your order will begin processing.

*If you are using a GPC card and need us to run the card at the time of shipment, we require you to call us with the card number so we may safely store it in our system prior to production.

Step 4: Approval

After you’ve placed your order, you will be sent an image of a prototype to approve, before we go to mass production.

Conrad Embroidery Company

22 A-B Emblem Drive, Weaverville, NC 28787

Phone: 800-353-4836

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