if statement within html

I have an html email that is adding rows based on how many many items a particular store has. It is supposed to check if the item name is not null, and then insert several tables and divs, but I am finding a hard time getting correct answers online. Here is the code I currently have:

 <%  if  != "" { %>
             <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="table1-5" width="34%" >
                   <tbody>
                       <p>Item Info</p>
                   </tbody>
             </table>
 <% } %>

I know that embedding script tags in the email template does not seem to work so I am looking for an alternative. Any help would be appreciated.