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107-537: The origins of the Texas Fashion Collection began in 1938 when Stanley and Edward Marcus preserved examples of top designers' works in honor of Carrie Marcus Neiman, co-founder of Neiman Marcus and arbiter of taste for the store. In the 1960s following a fire at the flagship Neiman-Marcus location, nearly 200 pieces of apparel from this collection were added to the Dallas Museum of Fashion,

214-539: A Chicago postmaster to suggest the company switch to enclosing the catalogs in plain brown wrappers. Neiman's fantasy gifts in the Christmas Book have included a $ 20 million submarine , mummy cases that contained an actual mummy, seats from Ebbets Field , and a $ 1.5 million Cobalt Valkyrie-X plane; the most expensive item was a Boeing Business Jet for over $ 35 million. In 1961, Neiman-Marcus in Dallas

321-493: A St. Louis, Missouri , customer who could not make the trip to Dallas. Another story often recounted is that of a shopper who, in searching for a present for his wife, said that he was not sure what to buy, but that he would know it when he saw it. In response, Marcus inquired about the woman's clothing sizes and asked the customer to wait briefly. Taking an oversized brandy snifter from a display, Marcus gathered cashmere sweaters of various colors, arranged them in imitation of

428-437: A pousse-café , topped with a white angora sweater to simulate whipped cream , and in place of a cherry , garnished the concoction with a 10-karat ruby ring , at a total cost of $ 25,350, which the customer gladly paid. When one customer decided his Christmas purchases were not sufficiently impressive, Marcus helped to arrange a full duplication of the store's display window, complete with mannequins and lighting, inside

535-502: A 1925 graduation trip to Europe, where he visited a famed international exhibition of decorative arts and thus was introduced to the earliest works of Art Deco . The Marcus collections included significant works by Mexican artists Rufino Tamayo , David Alfaro Siqueiros , Diego Rivera , and Rivera's lesser-known friend and colleague Antonio Ruíz ; the American sculptor Alexander Calder , and American painter Georgia O'Keeffe . Marcus

642-776: A 9-story store, The Fashion, in Downtown Houston . Wolfman stayed on to run the store, which became branch of Neiman Marcus, the first store outside the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex . The freestanding store was later replaced with a new anchor store located in the Houston Galleria in 1970. In 1965 the Preston Center store was closed and a new store, more than twice as big, was opened at NorthPark Center. Another branch in Fort Worth

749-589: A collection of Stanley Marcus's personal memorabilia, among many other items, is located in the Texas & Dallas History & Archives Division, 7th Floor, Main Library, Dallas Public Library, where it may be consulted by researchers. In August 2013, Women's Wear Daily reported Neiman Marcus Group was preparing for an initial public offering of its stock. In October 2013, the Neiman Marcus Group

856-531: A decade and offering advice locally to luxury car dealership Sewell Corporation and hotelier Rosewood Corporation as well as internationally to such businessmen as Mohamed Al-Fayed of Harrods . Called on to consult for Amazon.com 's Jeff Bezos , the 94-year-old businessman recalled arriving in his customary expensive tailored suit to discover 300 casually dressed employees: "I took off my coat, my necktie and my shirt, down to my T-shirt. And then I said, 'Okay. Let’s talk.' I couldn’t have planned it better. It broke

963-909: A federal claim for falsely claiming that some of their products contained fake fur when tests by the Humane Society of the United States showed it was actually real fur from raccoon dogs . Neiman Marcus did not admit guilt, but promised to adhere to federal fur labeling laws (the Fur Act ) for the next twenty years. In 2014 Neiman Marcus acquired German luxury fashion e-commerce platform mytheresa.com and its flagship store Theresa from its founders Christoph and Susanne Botschen and venture capital firm Acton Capital Partners . The luxury fashion online store ships worldwide and offers designer clothing, shoes, bags and accessories for women. In 2019, Neiman Marcus creditor, Marble Ridge Capital, had

1070-943: A grassroots initiative created and maintained by the Dallas Fashion Group in the Dallas Apparel Mart . When space at the Dallas Apparel Mart was at a premium and responding to the UNT Center for Design Research and new UNT fashion design program, the Dallas Museum of Fashion gifted its holdings to the University of North Texas in 1972, and in the 1980s this cache was renamed the Texas Fashion Collection. The TFC's facilities have varied and professionalized over time. Initially, these holdings were housed in ad hoc classroom spaces across campus. In 1993, UNT renovated Scoular Hall to consolidate

1177-443: A large book collection that much sooner. After receiving an A.B. degree from Harvard College in 1925, he began his career at the retailer that same year as a simple stockboy organizing inventory , but upon beginning in sales, quickly outstripped other sales staff. He went back to study at Harvard Business School in 1926, leaving after one year to participate in a massive expansion of the retail operation in Dallas. He married

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1284-463: A lawsuit against Neiman Marcus dismissed after the claim of inappropriate transfer of the company's MyTheresa assets was dismissed by a Texas judge due to lack of subject-matter jurisdiction . In March 2020, Neiman Marcus Group launched an app called NM Connect, which allows salespeople to communicate directly with customers via texts, email, phone and video calls. In June 2021, Neiman Marcus Group acquired Stylyze, an e-commerce platform, to expand

1391-447: A letter of introduction sent to 100 homes. The venture proved so successful that for a time Marcus considered entering that line of work full time, concerned that entering the retail business might curtail his freedom of expression in politics and other areas of interest; his father persuaded him that he would always be granted the liberty of his own views, and pointed out that retailing was more profitable and thus would allow him to amass

1498-580: A national award for service in fashion and hosting art exhibitions in the store itself, as well as weekly fashion shows and an annual Fortnight event highlighting a different foreign country for two weeks each year. He established the Neiman-Marcus Christmas Catalogue, which became famous for extravagant "His and Hers" gifts such as airplanes and camels. Marcus prided himself on his staff's ability to provide service and value for each client, often citing his father's dictum, "There

1605-724: A need to focus less on "civic image" and more on "doing good things and not doing bad things", which he described as "the best public relations." In a 2003 article on the 40th anniversary of the assassination, Ralph Blumenthal of The New York Times praised the message as "strik[ing] a perfect balance", though he notes the author met not only with support from some, but from canceled accounts and "anti-Semitic attacks" that only increased after an article in Life reminded readers of Marcus's Jewish heritage. Following Kennedy's death, Marcus maintained close ties with Johnson and his administration, being considered for diplomatic posts to France and to

1712-606: A new temporary structure on campus, Welch Street Complex 1. In 2019, the TFC opened the Gloria and Bruzzy Westheimer Research Gallery, a 1300 square foot space on the second floor of the UNT Art Building. TFC leadership has been driven by fashion and higher education leadership. Its earliest caretakers were Stanley and Edward Marcus, along with Carrie Marcus Neiman. A cohort of fashion industry professionals maintained and grew

1819-506: A numerous and appreciative turnout for the show. Marcus also involved himself in issues of civil rights and social justice. One unusual case involved three male students at W. W. Samuell High School who, in 1966, were stopped at the school's front door and ordered to cut their hair in order to be admitted to the school. The young men filed a lawsuit against the Dallas Independent School District , claiming

1926-456: A quality store and, in 1954, began to hire black staff in some departments. Moving into the 1960s, Marcus became ever more convinced that his city and his company needed to take action to promote racial equality, both as a moral issue and to reduce the growing civil unrest. In 1968, he announced that Neiman-Marcus's buyers would give preference to companies employing and training significant numbers of minority employees, making his firm one of

2033-458: A roughly 60% controlling interest until 1999, when Neiman Marcus was fully spun off from its parent company . On May 2, 2005, Neiman Marcus Group was the subject of a leveraged buyout (LBO), selling itself to two private equity firms, Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus . The "Neiman-Marcus Collection," comprising early account books, advertising and Christmas Catalog layouts, files on charity activities, past awards and presentations, and

2140-572: A serious subject rather than as an object of ridicule. He solicited nationally famous women to proclaim their support of the new standards; TIME 's report on the WPB quoted author Adela Rogers St. Johns predicting, "The overdressed woman will be as unpatriotically conspicuous as though she wore a Japanese kimono." Marcus addressed the fashion press in national meetings, encouraging editors to reassure women that stores would carry adequate supply of attractive styles, in order to prevent shoppers from flooding

2247-463: A time in 1963, working under Mrs. Johnson's personal secretary, Liz Carpenter . In 1969 Stanley Marcus recommended to the board of directors that the company merge with Broadway-Hale of California in order to have enough capital to expand. Neiman's subsequently became a subsidiary of Carter-Hawley Hale, Inc. , and Marcus accepted a position as corporate executive vice president and director of CHH. He retired as Chairman Emeritus in 1975, turning over

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2354-458: Is also housed in the Texas Fashion Collection. The Braniff Pucci Collection was donated to the museum in March 1969, and included several dresses owned by Braniff co-founder Thomas Elmer Braniff's wife Bess Braniff. 1,150 dresses are tagged "designer unknown". Fashion on Main was the exhibition facility of the Texas Fashion Collection. It was located in the historic Titche-Goettinger Building in

2461-614: Is gone when only a New York dress is a good dress." Faced with increasing shortages in silk and even new synthetics such as rayon , which seemed likely to create long lines of dissatisfied customers seeking a product in inadequate supply, Marcus created the Neiman Marcus Hosiery-of-the-Month Club, which sent two pair of stockings in fashionable shades to each female charge-card customer, with no membership fees. In his memoirs Marcus recalled, "Many women opened charge accounts just to become members of

2568-600: Is never a good sale for Neiman Marcus unless it's a good buy for the customer." He received the Chevalier Award from the French Legion of Honor , was listed in the Houston Chronicle 's list of the 100 most important Texans, and was named by Harvard Business School among the greatest American Business Leaders of the 20th century. The Advertising Hall of Fame notes: "Stanley Marcus was among

2675-500: The Omnibus strand. Entitled Dallas – The Big Store and directed by Jana Boková , it aired on 24 February 1981. In 1983 Frederick Wiseman made a documentary called 'The Store' about the flagship store of Neiman Marcus. Dating back as early as the 1930s, rumors started to circulate about a woman and her daughter who were out to lunch at Neiman Marcus and for dessert shared a chocolate chip cookie that they loved so much they asked

2782-442: The 1956 Olympic team . Artists represented in the show included four supposed Communist supporters, Leon Kroll , Yasuo Kuniyoshi , Ben Shahn , and William Zorach . Asking Florence to indicate which pieces were being questioned, Marcus dismissed each claim one by one: "I don't know how anybody could think hitting a baseball was communist," Marcus said when shown Shahn's "The National Pastime." His response to Zorach's "Fisherman"

2889-525: The Dallas Museum of Art ). While serving as museum chair, Marcus was once called upon by Fred Florence, then chairman of a major local bank and a fellow Temple Emanu-El leader, to explain his inclusion of "a lot of Communist art" he'd been told would be included in an upcoming DMFA "Sports in Art" exhibit, co-sponsored by Sports Illustrated and United States Information Agency as a fund-raiser for

2996-478: The Great Depression and following war years. Between 1942 and 1944, sales at Neiman Marcus grew from $ 6 million to $ 11 million. Despite a major fire in 1946, the store continued to profit. Herbert Marcus Sr. died in 1950, and Carrie Neiman died two years later, leaving Stanley Marcus in charge of the company's operations. The 1950s saw the addition of a $ 1.6 million store at 8300 Preston Road in

3103-674: The House Ways and Means Committee ; his father, Herbert, was another, earning $ 75,000 as company president while vice president Stanley drew an even $ 50,000. Marcus was responsible for a number of innovations at the Dallas retailer. He created the annual Neiman-Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in Fashion, beginning in 1938, which led to the Neiman-Marcus Exposition, a fall fashion show held annually from 1938 to 1970, then periodically thereafter. His department store

3210-660: The Main Street District of downtown Dallas . Opened in 2006, it was renovated in 2013 and incorporated into the Galleries of the College of Visual Arts and Design of UNT. As of 2018, the space has been returned to the UNT System and no longer functions as a gallery. Stanley Marcus Harold Stanley Marcus (April 20, 1905 – January 22, 2002) was president (1950–1972) and later chairman of

3317-497: The Neiman Marcus Group since 1987, and is a sister brand to luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman through this ownership. Herbert Marcus Sr., a former buyer with Dallas' Sanger Brothers department store, had left his previous job to found a new business with his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman and her husband, Abraham Lincoln Neiman , then employees of Sanger Brothers competitor A. Harris and Co. In 1907,

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3424-553: The Preston Center ; the location been occupied by a Tootsies store since the 1990s. It was a 63,000-square-foot (5,900 m ) store "inspired by the art and culture of Southwestern Indians" and "colors ... copied from Indian weaving, pottery, and sand paintings". The themed decor included Kachina figures on colored-glass murals and an Alexander Calder mobile named "Mariposa," the Spanish word for butterfly. Art likewise

3531-591: The United Nations General Assembly while continuing to run his company and providing the wedding dresses for both the Johnsons' daughters, personally assisting Luci Johnson in selecting the designer for her own dress and the styles for the bridesmaids' gowns. After Johnson's retirement, Marcus's invitations were among the few the former president and his wife continued to accept. Marcus's own daughter Wendy joined Mrs. Johnson's staff for

3638-534: The 1950s and 1960s, Gittings operated a portrait studio in Neiman Marcus. Clients included Hope Portocarrero , Lyndon Johnson , Howard Hughes , and the Shah of Iran , Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family. A late 1960s Christmas Book featured portraits of Wyatt Cooper , his wife Gloria Vanderbilt , and children Carter and Anderson Cooper . The company continued its extravagant marketing efforts (including

3745-421: The 1990s. In 1987 Bergdorf Goodman was acquired by the Neiman Marcus Group. In the 1980s, the hyphenated spelling of the company name ("Neiman-Marcus") was abandoned. Stanley Marcus died on January 22, 2002. He had served as president and chairman of the board for the company. Marcus had been the architect behind the fashion shows, New York advertising for a strictly regional chain, in-store art exhibits, and

3852-641: The American fashion industry when he was asked to join the War Production Board in Washington, D.C. , on December 27, 1941, less than three weeks after the United States entered World War II . Ineligible for military service due to his age, he instead helped the war effort by championing the conservation of scarce resources normally devoted to fashion trends. He encouraged men to wear drooping socks (to save much-needed rubber that would normally be used for elastic >) and devised regulations for

3959-527: The Christmas catalog with its outlandish His-and-Hers gifts, including vicuña wool coats, a pair of airplanes, " Noah's Ark " (including pairs of animals), camels, and live tigers. Over the last 20 years, ownership of Neiman Marcus has passed through several hands. In June 1987, the company was spun off from its retail parent, Carter Hawley Hale Stores , and became a publicly listed company. General Cinema , later to become Harcourt General , still had

4066-533: The Dallas Fashion Group was successful in generating donations of designer clothing from Dallas women. Under the direction of UNT since 1972, the collection has grown from 3,000 to more than 18,000 historic items. Designs from Cristóbal Balenciaga (340, believed to be the second largest inventory of original Balenciaga dresses after the house's own archives), Hubert de Givenchy (387), Oscar de la Renta (301), Christian Dior (151) Todd Oldham , Hanae Mori , James Galanos , and Norman Norell make up robust portions of

4173-623: The Dallas Museum of Art. Southern Methodist University hosts a Stanley Marcus collection at its DeGolyer Library in Dallas, including photographs, correspondence, and clippings. The library also houses a collection of more than 8,000 books donated by Marcus, including 1,100 miniature books, many from the press he founded. Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas , Texas by Herbert Marcus , his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman , and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman . It has been owned by

4280-546: The French government a sponsorship of an even more elaborate event in his own store. The initial Fortnight included concurrent events of art, symphonic music, and film at other locations around Dallas, with an Air France jet bringing "writers, painters, government officials, models, and industry leaders." In the years following, the Fortnight focused on various other countries and added related food service as well as items from

4387-683: The Marcuses and Neimans used the $ 25,000 made in the sale of that business to establish their store at the corner of Elm and Murphy. Given that the family's other option for the money was to invest in the then-unknown Coca-Cola Company, Marcus loved to say that Neiman-Marcus was established "as a result of the bad judgment of its founders." In his memoir, Marcus recalled his father as "affectionate" and his mother as even-handed in her attention to each of their children, making sure even into their adulthood to give them equivalent gifts and make sure they were praised equally. One of Stanley Marcus's first jobs

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4494-430: The Marcuses commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for them on Nonesuch Road, but rejected the eventual design, which included cantilevered steel beams and terraces swathed in mosquito netting . Instead, the couple chose a design by local firm DeWitt & Washburn, whose creation became a Texas Historic Landmark. As of 1937, Marcus was one of only 22 Texans to earn a salary of $ 50,000 or more, according to

4601-559: The Moon — and had a card that read, "To Marilyn, from the Man in the Moon." In 2012, Neiman Marcus partnered with Target Corporation to create a holiday collection featuring 24 designers from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The 50-piece collection featured apparel, accessories and even some gifts for dogs. The department store was the subject of a BBC One documentary in

4708-663: The Specialty Retail stores division including Neiman Marcus Stores and Bergdorf Goodman. These retailers offer luxury apparel, accessories, jewelry, beauty and decorative home products. As of mid-2022 the company operates 36 Neiman Marcus stores in the United States and two Bergdorf Goodman stores in Manhattan . Neiman Marcus' largest market is the South Florida MSA , where they operate five stores. The company also operates five "Last Call" clearance centers and

4815-475: The UNT Libraries to create a digital catalog of the holdings of the collection. Accessible through the UNT Libraries' Digital Library, an increasing number of objects can be viewed via the internet. Though the TFC does not have its own dedicated exhibition space, it regularly partners with cultural institutions to make its holdings accessible. Previous exhibition partners include: Early in its history,

4922-401: The United States, including Atlanta , Charlotte , Beverly Hills , Boston , Chicago , Las Vegas , Minneapolis , San Francisco and St. Louis . Neiman Marcus also had a letter of intent to open a 120,000 square foot store in downtown Cleveland in 1992 as part of an anchor for the upscale Tower City Center . However, the project did not come to fruition, instead opening its concept store in

5029-521: The WPB that coats, suits, jackets and dresses be sold separately "to make them go further." The changes were expected to create a total savings of 100,000,000 yards (91,000,000 m) of fabric to be used in the war effort. Conscious of the role of the media in fashion promotion, Marcus prompted the members of the National Retail Dry Goods Association to convince their local press outlets to treat women's fashions as

5136-483: The WPB's mandates did not still Marcus's competitive instincts. With the fall of Paris , the traditional fashion capital, New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia began to declare his city the new leader at every opportunity. To this claim, Marcus retorted in the international press, "New York is finished as a manufacturing center. ... They're making clothes in Kansas, Philadelphia and Texas now and they won't give it up. The day

5243-402: The arts was his own work in the area of photography . Over the course of his adult life, Marcus took thousands of photographs, both of famous and anonymous subjects, which he turned over to granddaughter Allison V. Smith, a professional photographer, upon moving out of his Nonesuch Road home into a smaller residence in the late 1990s. Two years after his death, Smith began making digital scans of

5350-597: The average age falling by seven years from pre-pandemic levels, from the mid-40s to the high-30s. In July 2024, Neiman Marcus announced plans to merge with Saks Fifth Avenue in a reported $ 2.65 billion merger. According to the AIA Dallas, " Eero Saarinen committed to designing the store but died unexpectedly in 1961. Saarinen’s partners Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo , designed it together with E.G. Hamilton of Harrell & Hamilton (now Omniplan ), who also designed

5457-676: The board (1972–1976) of the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas , which his father and aunt had founded in 1907. During his tenure at the company, he also became a published author, writing his memoir Minding the Store and also a regular column in The Dallas Morning News . After Neiman Marcus was sold to Carter Hawley Hale Stores , Marcus initially remained in an advisory capacity to that company, but later began his own consulting business, which continued until his death. He served his local community as an avid patron of

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5564-483: The business. He supported the United Nations in its early years, an unpopular position in Dallas for that time. In the early 1950s he began to explore the ramifications of ending the store's participation in the then-common practice of excluding black customers from shopping in the store, and while his legal advisors cautioned against that step, he offered support for any black entrepreneur looking to establish

5671-560: The cases under Case No. 20-32519. According to the company's CEO, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, the filing was a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The company's website, mytheresa.com, was not part of the bankruptcy. At the end of September 2020, Neiman Marcus exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and as of 2022 is owned by a consortium of investment firms ( Davidson Kempner Capital Management , Sixth Street Partners and Pacific Investment Management ). In July 2021, mytheresa

5778-666: The city's earlier poor reception of Adlai Stevenson and Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson . In Kennedy's memory, Marcus arranged to have 500 hand-typeset and bound copies printed of Kennedy's scheduled speech at the Dallas Trade Mart, of which the first copy went to Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline . The following New Year's Day, 1964, Marcus took out a full-page advertorial in The Dallas Morning News titled, "What's Right With Dallas?" The editorial ad—a Neiman-Marcus tradition introduced by his father in

5885-593: The club, and in a short time we had a membership of over 100,000, extending all over the country." In 1950, with the death of Herbert Marcus Sr., Stanley Marcus was elected president and CEO of the company, with Carrie Marcus Neiman as chairman of the board and other family members like Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus and Lawrence Marcus taking on more responsibilities. Neiman died in 1953, in which year TIME proclaimed that Stanley Marcus's "combination of showmanship and salesmanship" had been instrumental in increasing

5992-492: The collection through the Dallas Museum of Fashion, and Edward and Betty Mattil facilitated its donation to the University of North Texas. UNT Fashion Design Professor Myra Walker served as the TFC director and curator from 1987-2017, and during her tenure the collection doubled in size and grew in stature. In fall 2016, current TFC director Annette Becker was hired. Since 2010, the Texas Fashion Collection has partnered with

6099-507: The collection, with the majority of the TFC's holdings representing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex consumers' engagement with high style from the 1930s-1990s. Heard de Osborne donated most the Balenciaga prestigious dresses (she had pre-access to new collections), and Mercedes Bass donated most of the de la Renta prestigious dresses. The famed 1965 Emilio Pucci designed Gemini IV Hostess uniform Collection for Braniff International Airways

6206-529: The company's annual revenue from $ 2.6 million in 1926 to $ 20 million. Marcus began yet another Neiman-Marcus tradition, the "International Fortnight ," in 1957 as a way to attract customers in the lull between the fall fashion rush and the Christmas shopping crunch. The idea was inspired by seeing a store in Stockholm, Sweden , that was having a France-themed sales promotion, leading Marcus to propose to

6313-438: The company's e-commerce capabilities. Users connect to Neiman Marcus Group using the proprietary app Connect. In April 2022, Farfetch Limited agreed to a $ 200 million minority investment in the Neiman Marcus Group, aiming to stimulate growth through the stores' use of Farfetch's "Platform Solutions" e-commerce marketplace. Since 1939, Neiman Marcus has issued an annual Christmas catalog, which gets much free publicity from

6420-639: The computer suggested a yacht . During the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968, Marilyn Lovell, wife of astronaut Jim Lovell , who was the Command Module Pilot, received, as a Christmas present, a mink coat that was delivered to her by a Neiman Marcus driver in a Rolls-Royce car . The coat was wrapped in royal blue wrapping paper with two Styrofoam balls — one for the Earth and the other for

6527-467: The corner of Main Street and Ervay Street. With the opening of the flagship Neiman Marcus Building , the store increased its product selection to include accessories, lingerie , and children's clothing, as well as expanding the women's apparel department. In its first year at the new building, Neiman Marcus recorded a profit of $ 40,000 on sales of $ 700,000, nearly twice the totals reached in its last year at

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6634-469: The fine arts and as a civic leader. In a chapter titled "Mr. Stanley"—the name by which Marcus was known locally for decades—in his 1953 work Neiman-Marcus, Texas , Frank X. Tolbert called him "Dallas's most internationally famous citizen" and worthy of being called "the Southwest's No. 1 businessman-intellectual." Marcus introduced many of the innovations for which Neiman-Marcus became known, creating

6741-515: The first companies in the nation to have such a policy. The Marcus family had been among the founders of Dallas' Temple Emanu-El , a Reform synagogue that is today the largest in the Southwest. Stanley Marcus became a leading figure in the temple in the 1950s and a member of the American Council for Judaism despite being largely a secular Jew who once joked that he was afraid to visit Israel "because he might be converted." Marcus

6848-471: The first year. At his new school, he became a member of the historically Jewish fraternity Zeta Beta Tau , later rising to become the group's president. While living in Boston and pursuing his chosen major , English literature, Marcus began a lifelong hobby of collecting rare and antique books . To finance his pursuits, he began The Book Collector's Service Bureau, a mail-order book service, beginning with

6955-580: The former Mary "Billie" Cantrell in 1932; she initially worked in the Neiman-Marcus Sports Shop department until she retired in 1936 after the birth of their first child, Jerrie, followed two years later by twins Richard and Wendy. (One year after his wife's 1978 death, he married Linda Robinson, a longtime librarian at the Dallas Public Library , in a marriage that lasted until Stanley Marcus's own death in 2002.) In 1935

7062-759: The ice. I was on stage for two hours." In addition to writing a weekly column for The Dallas Morning News for 15 years, Marcus was the author of multiple retailing -oriented books, including Minding the Store: A Memoir (1974), the sequel Quest for the Best (1979), and His & Hers: The Fantasy World of the Neiman Marcus Catalogue (1982) He was a close friend of other writers, including Jane Trahey , an author and longtime advertising copywriter who at one time worked for Neiman Marcus, and historian David McCullough . A television presenter for

7169-497: The launch of His and Her gifts in the famous Christmas Book) with the inauguration of Fortnight in 1957. The Fortnight was an annual presentation of fashions and culture from a particular country, held in late October and early November of each year, and was one of the most anticipated events in Dallas. It brought fashion, dignitaries, celebrities, exotic food and extravagant celebrations to the downtown store for 29 years. In 1955, Neiman Marcus acquired Ben Wolfman, Inc. which operated

7276-409: The man's home. Despite his love of such larger-than-life salesmanship, Marcus also maintained the assertion of his father, Herbert, that "there is no good sale for Neiman-Marcus unless it is a good buy for the customer." Stanley Marcus would sometimes persuade the buyer to purchase a lower-priced item that he considered more suitable, as when a man shopping for a mink coat for his 16-year-old daughter

7383-619: The manufacture of women's and children's clothing that would enable the nation to divert more textile resources to uniforms and other war-related needs: We settled on certain prohibitions, such as lengths, sleeve fullness, patch pockets, ensembles, sweeps of skirts, widths of belts and depth of hems. ... The restrictions we put into effect froze the fashion silhouette. It effectively prevented any change of skirt length downward and it blocked any extreme new sleeve or collar development, which might have encouraged women to discard existing clothes. In addition to these restrictions, Marcus recommended to

7490-567: The most important figures in the history of American retail merchandising and marketing. Through his many innovations, he transformed a local Dallas clothing store into an international brand synonymous with high style, fashion and gracious service." he died in 2002 at age 96. Marcus was born in The Cedars, Dallas, Texas , the son of Herbert Marcus Sr., who later became a co-founder of the original Neiman-Marcus store with his sister Carrie and her husband, Abraham Lincoln "Al" Neiman . Stanley

7597-403: The national media for a tradition of unusual and extravagant gifts not sold in its stores. Some have included the "his and hers" themed items, trips and cars (see below). In 1952, Stanley Marcus introduced a new tradition of having extravagant and unusual gifts in each year's Christmas catalog, The Christmas Book . The idea was sparked when journalist Edward R. Murrow contacted Marcus to ask if

7704-751: The online luxury furniture outlet Horchow.com." The Neiman Marcus Group owned majority interest in Kate Spade LLC, a manufacturer of handbags and accessories. In October 2006, the company purchased all minority interest for approximately $ 59.4 million, and in November 2006 sold 100% ownership to Liz Claiborne , Inc. for approximately $ 121.5 million. Another divestiture was a majority interest in Gurwitch Products LLC, which manufactures Laura Mercier cosmetics, to Alticor Inc., for approximately $ 40.8 million. In 2013, Neiman Marcus settled

7811-401: The original location. In 1927, the store expanded, and Neiman Marcus premiered the first weekly retail fashion show in the United States. The store staged a show called "One Hundred Years of Texas Fashions" in 1936 in honor of the centennial of Texas's independence from Mexico . A later profile of the store, "Neiman Marcus of Texas", described the "grandiose and elaborate" gala, noting: "It

7918-687: The other problems." Marcus was an avid art collector, as well as amassing a collection of masks from around the world. In 2002, the Sotheby's auction house mounted a sale of works from his estate, calling Marcus "an insightful and forward-looking collector and a generous lender whose contributions to exhibitions helped bring notice to the world of Latin American Art during the 40s, 50s and 60s." The auction house also noted that Marcus had begun collecting at age five (influenced by his parents), but had found his interest in good design vastly deepened by

8025-529: The photos and posting them to the sharing site Flickr ; despite the fact that their authorship was not identified, within a year the photographs had drawn 10,000 views. For the 100th anniversary of Neiman Marcus, Smith and her mother, Jerrie Marcus Smith, decided to assemble a representative selection of the nearly 5,000 images into a book; titled Reflection of a Man , the 192-page book was published by Cairn Press in October, 2007, and accompanied by an exhibit at

8132-429: The principal does, but I will fight for the rights of those students to wear hair any way they choose." Though the case was lost and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court without success, decades letter the men still appreciated Marcus' support. Paul Jarvis, one of the plaintiffs, said of Marcus after his death in 2002: "He was just a nice man and a great contributor to Dallas and to the arts. He wanted to do what

8239-424: The public broadcasting program American Experience , McCullough said he once asked Stanley Marcus—"one of the wisest men I know"—what single problem or aspect of American life, if given a magic wand, he would change, to which Marcus replied, "I'd try to do something about television." When asked why, he explained, "Because", he said, "If you could do something about television, think how far you could go to solve all

8346-569: The rare clothing objects into 3700 square foot climate-controlled space, which made it possible to inventory the collection as a whole for the first time. To support of this vital component of fashion history, a National Endowment for the Arts grant for history and documentation was awarded to the Collection in 1995. In 2013, with the demolition of Scoular Hall, the Texas Fashion Collection and the other programs housed in that building were relocated to

8453-476: The relevant country in every department, ending in 1986 with the Australian Fortnight. Other international traditions introduced at Neiman's included Dallas' first espresso bar, brought by Marcus after World War II. As a retailer, Marcus believed strongly in making his store into a place where everything a customer needed could be found and, if necessary, brought to the customer's front door. He

8560-500: The rest of NorthPark Center. While Stanley Marcus wanted to use white marble throughout the new store, Raymond Nasher and Hamilton argued for unity in the overall design and materiality of the Center. Roche thus used bold elements defining the departments within. Marcus stated 'We found ourselves educating most of the architects…that…were positive of only one thing with any store: that we would want to change it within 10 years… [but Roche]

8667-448: The restriction interfered with their constitutional freedom of expression. Despite not knowing the boys involved, Marcus stepped forward to champion their case before the public, taking out a newspaper ad defending the choice as a simple fashion decision rather than rebellion against authority. Additionally, he offered legal support if needed, noting in a telegram to school board president Lee McShan, Jr., "I don’t like long hair any more than

8774-404: The server for the recipe. The server said that the recipe would cost "two fifty" and the woman agreed. However, she was in disbelief when she was charged $ 250 for the recipe instead of what she thought would be $ 2.50. The rumor eventually became xeroxlore and a chain letter . In 1997, after the rumor had progressed to an infamous e-mail forward , the company released a statement that the story

8881-440: The show by two means. First, he solicited the donation of art from the collections of David Rockefeller and his brothers, along with those from other noted national business leaders. Second, he requested that the donors personally write letters of invitation to their Dallas colleagues, feeling that the otherwise suspect art would benefit from the imprimatur of respected figures known for their fine taste. His efforts were rewarded by

8988-484: The store to his son, Richard C. Marcus. Running those poor steers back and forth in the heat is ridiculous.... What they ought to do is put the steers in the convention hall and run the delegates. Despite retiring officially from the company, Marcus continued to be closely involved as an advisor even through the final weeks of his life. He established a sideline as a retailing consultant , maintaining regular business hours in his offices at Crescent Court for more than

9095-508: The store would be offering anything unusual that might interest his radio listeners. Marcus invented on the spot an offering of a live Black Angus bull accompanied by a sterling silver barbecue cart, and the catalog was subsequently altered to include this item, priced at $ 1,925. At one point, the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog carried the distinction of being the item most stolen from recipients' mailboxes, prompting

9202-494: The store's early days—both defended the city against outside critiques and offered more intimate criticisms from one who knew the town and its people well. The message said that Dallas needed to address four areas for community improvement: one, its slum problem; two, its political extremism (called "absolutism" in the text); three, too much attention to physical growth at the expense of "quality" in civic endeavors such as "schools, colleges, symphonies, operas, and museums"; and four,

9309-415: The stores or hoarding stock. TIME reported on meetings of "70 fantastic hats," representing the presence of national magazine editors from Ladies' Home Journal and Harper's Bazaar , as well as from newspapers in the urban centers of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, all complying with the WPB's instructions for their coverage of women's and children's fashions. His work promoting cooperation with

9416-485: The trio had US$ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 817,500 in 2023) from the successful sales-promotion firm they had built in Atlanta, Georgia , and two potential investments of funds. Rather than take a chance on an unknown "sugary soda pop business," the three entrepreneurs rejected the fledgling Coca-Cola company and chose instead to return to Dallas to establish a retail business. For this reason, early company CEO Peb Atera

9523-560: Was also opened. By 1967 the four Neiman Marcus stores in operation were generating annual sales of $ 58.5 million, and the company's profit for that year was in excess of $ 2 million. In 1968, the company merged with Broadway-Hale Stores, Inc., which enabled Neiman Marcus to expand at a much faster pace than would have been possible as an independent entity. In 1971, the first Neiman Marcus outside Texas opened in Bal Harbour, Florida . In subsequent years stores opened in over 30 cities across

9630-515: Was as a 10-year-old salesman of Saturday Evening Post , bringing him into the family's business tradition from a young age. He attended Forest Avenue High School , where he studied debate as well as English with teacher Myra Brown, whom he later credited with much of his early interest in books. He began his university studies at Amherst College , but when traditions preventing Jews from joining clubs or fraternities drastically curtailed his social life, he transferred to Harvard College after

9737-610: Was friends with Rivera and Tamayo—playing a major role in bringing one of Tamayo's murals to the Dallas Museum of Art —and one of the first board members of the O'Keeffe museum, which honored him at the time of his death with a paid notice in The New York Times that stated "Stanley's generous support, leadership, enthusiasm, friendship and keen artistic judgment were instrumental in the Museum's inception and success. We shall miss him greatly." Another Marcus contribution to

9844-498: Was on this occasion that one of the most critical among the store's guests, Mrs. Edna Woolman Chase, editor of Vogue , expressing the sentiment of the store's starry-eyed clientele, told the local press: I dreamed all my life of the perfect store for women. Then I saw Neiman Marcus, and my dream had come true. In 1929, the store began offering menswear. During the 1930s and 1940s, Neiman Marcus began to include less-expensive clothing lines along with its high-end items, in response to

9951-555: Was one of two stores in the nation — the other being Wanamaker's in Philadelphia — to offer computer-based assistance in selecting Christmas gifts. The process worked by comparing information on the recipient to a computerized list of the 2,200 items available at Neiman-Marcus, then providing a printout of the 10 best suggestions. One person testing the computer filled out the questionnaire as if he were President John F. Kennedy shopping for gifts in excess of $ 1,000 for his wife ;

10058-458: Was personally steered by Marcus toward a $ 295 muskrat coat instead, as being more appropriate to her youth. Marcus also routinely insisted customers would be wiser to buy the top quality of a reasonably priced line rather than scaled-down or second-rate versions of an expensive product. Marcus continued throughout his tenure to hold tightly to his father's assurance that he would be able to maintain and act on his political convictions while running

10165-477: Was previously possible, flocked to the new store. In spite of the Panic of 1907 set off only a few weeks after its opening, Neiman Marcus was instantly successful, and its first several years of operation were quite profitable. In 1914, a fire destroyed the Neiman Marcus store and all of its merchandise. A temporary store was opened for 17 days. By the end of 1914, Neiman Marcus opened its new, permanent location at

10272-471: Was quoted in 1957 as saying in jest that Neiman Marcus was "founded on bad business judgment." The store, established on September 10, 1907, was lavishly furnished and stocked with clothing of a quality not commonly found in Texas. Within a few weeks, the store's initial inventory, mostly acquired on a buying trip to New York made by Carrie, was completely sold out. Oil-rich Texans, welcoming the opportunity to flaunt their wealth in more sophisticated fashion than

10379-722: Was referred to as the "Nam Diamond". In 2018 Geoffroy van Raemdonck replaced Karen Katz as CEO. In April 2019, Neiman Marcus acquired a minority stake in Fashionphile , an online resale platform for handbags, jewelry and accessories. Neiman Marcus Group, Ltd. LLC and 23 affiliated debtors filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in May 2020. The debtors requested joint administration of

10486-469: Was right." Marcus used his public-relations skills once again when Dallas was labeled "City of Hate" following the November 22, 1963, assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy . An early supporter of Kennedy's run for the presidency, Marcus had tolerated the closing of several customers' accounts when he announced his support for the candidate in the 1960 elections. In fact, he had cautioned that Kennedy's visit be reconsidered in light of

10593-512: Was said to have helped one customer discover the shoe size of Queen Elizabeth II so as to give the gift of stockings and a pair of shoes, and he ordered that the store stock such items as a set of Steuben plates with the Mexican national crest, "because sooner or later somebody will be going to call on the President of Mexico and need a proper gift." He personally delivered a fur coat to

10700-473: Was similar, as he shook his head and remarked, "I don't think too many people think fishing is communist either." Marcus followed up by going to local newspapers The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times-Herald and getting the publishers of both to agree that they would not stand for censorship in the arts. In organizing a 1952 exhibition of abstract art , Marcus lured local leaders to

10807-496: Was sold for $ 6 billion to Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board . In August 2015, the company again announced it was preparing for an initial public offering. In late 2015 Neiman Marcus became a stand-alone company. In November 2013 the firm discovered a 25-carat rough diamond off Namibia's coast, which was valued with a reserve price tag of $ 1.85 million. The diamond

10914-802: Was spun off and filed for IPO on the NYSE, valuing it at $ 2.2 billion which increased to $ 3 billion during the first day of trading. In August 2020 it announced the closing of five stores: Mazza Gallerie in Washington D.C. ; Hudson Yards in New York City ; The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale ; Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Florida ; and Downtown Bellevue near Seattle . In June 2022 Neiman Marcus Group reported their highest sales volume in almost half of their stores, and sales of their 20 best-selling brands grew by 70% above pre-COVID levels in 2019. The company has also been attracting younger customers, with

11021-585: Was the first American haute couture boutique to introduce weekly fashion shows, and the first to host concurrent art exhibitions at the store itself. In 1939, he established the annual Christmas Catalogue, which in 1951 offered the first of its extravagant "His & Hers Gifts," starting with a matching pair of vicuña coats, and going on to include matching bathtubs, a pair of Beechcraft airplanes, " Noah's Ark " (including pairs of animals), camels, and live tigers. For all his professional emphasis on glitz and glamour, he made another, very different mark on

11128-417: Was the first of four sons born to Herbert Sr., and his wife, the former Minnie Lichtenstein . The pregnancy indirectly led to the eventual founding of Neiman-Marcus, as Herbert Sr. decided to leave Sanger's , where he was a buyer of boys' clothing, when he deemed his raise insufficient to support a family. Returning from two years spent in Atlanta, Georgia , establishing a successful sales-promotion business,

11235-468: Was used as inspiration for Stanley Marcus' seasonal campaigns to solicit new colors in fabrics, as he did the year that he borrowed 20 Paul Gauguin paintings — many of which had never been publicly exhibited — from collectors around the world and had the vivid colors translated into dyes for wool, silk, and leather. Area teachers cited the Gauguin exhibits as spurring a dramatic increase in art study. In

11342-423: Was very convincing that a building had to have some discipline. Stanley was right, and later, during a remodeling to keep the store contemporary, elements with which he argued against had to be removed at great expense." *fiscal year **announced Neiman Marcus is still in operation today under the original name and is still headquartered in Dallas, where it was founded. The Neiman Marcus Group comprises

11449-555: Was well known for cultivating the arts and for defending even unpopular political causes. He introduced art exhibits at Neiman-Marcus as well as providing corporate sponsorship of artwork elsewhere in the city, and cultivated an extensive private collection. He helped found the Dallas Opera , helped save the Dallas Symphony from a financial crisis, and served as chairman of the board for the Dallas Museum of Fine Art (now

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