Stanley Marcus facts for kids

Harold Stanley Marcus (April 20, 1905 – January 22, 2002) was a famous American businessman. He led the luxury store Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, which his family started in 1907. He was the president from 1950 to 1972 and then chairman until 1976.

During his time at Neiman Marcus, Stanley Marcus became a published author. He wrote his life story in a book called Minding the Store. He also wrote a regular column for The Dallas Morning News newspaper.

After Neiman Marcus was sold, Marcus continued to work as an advisor. Later, he started his own consulting business, helping other companies until he passed away. He was also a big supporter of the arts and a leader in his community. People in Dallas knew him as "Mr. Stanley."

Marcus brought many new ideas to Neiman Marcus. He created a national award for fashion, held art shows in the store, and started weekly fashion shows. He also began the yearly "Fortnight" event, which celebrated a different country for two weeks.

He created the famous Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalogue. This catalogue became known for its amazing "His and Hers" gifts, like airplanes and even camels! Marcus believed in giving excellent service to every customer. He often repeated his father's rule: "There is never a good sale for Neiman Marcus unless it's a good buy for the customer."

Stanley Marcus received many honors. He got the Chevalier Award from the French Legion of Honour. He was also named one of the 100 most important Texans by the Houston Chronicle. Harvard Business School called him one of the greatest American Business Leaders of the 20th century. The Advertising Hall of Fame said he was very important in American retail and marketing. They noted that he turned a local store into a global brand known for style and great service.

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Early Life and Retail Career

Stanley Marcus was born in Dallas, Texas. His father, Herbert Marcus Sr., helped start the first Neiman Marcus store in 1907 with his sister Carrie and her husband, Al Neiman. Stanley was the first of four sons.

His parents almost invested in Coca-Cola instead of starting the store. Marcus liked to joke that Neiman Marcus was founded because of his family's "bad judgment." He remembered his father as loving and his mother as fair to all their children.

One of Stanley's first jobs was selling The Saturday Evening Post magazine when he was 10. This started his family's business tradition early. He went to Forest Avenue High School, where he enjoyed debate and English.

He started college at Amherst College. But he transferred to Harvard College after his first year. This was because he felt that Jewish students were not included in clubs there. At Harvard, he joined a Jewish fraternity and later became its president.

While studying English literature in Boston, Marcus started collecting rare books. To pay for his hobby, he began a mail-order book service. It was so successful that he thought about doing it full-time. However, his father convinced him that retail would be more profitable. This would allow him to buy more books sooner.

Starting at Neiman-Marcus

After graduating from Harvard in 1925, Stanley Marcus began working at Neiman Marcus. He started as a simple stockboy, organizing items. But he quickly became a top salesperson. He went to Harvard Business School for a year in 1926. Then he returned to Dallas to help with a big expansion of the store.

He married Mary "Billie" Cantrell in 1932. She worked in the store's Sports Shop until 1936, when their first child, Jerrie, was born. They later had twins, Richard and Wendy. After Billie passed away in 1978, he married Linda Robinson in 1979. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2002.

In 1935, the Marcuses asked famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design their home. But they didn't like his design. Instead, they chose a local firm. Their home later became a Texas Historic Landmark.

Stanley Marcus brought many new ideas to the Dallas store. In 1938, he created the annual Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in Fashion. This led to the Neiman Marcus Exposition, a fall fashion show held every year. His store was the first American haute couture (high fashion) store to have weekly fashion shows. It was also the first to host art exhibitions inside the store.

In 1939, he started the annual Christmas Catalogue. In 1951, it offered its first amazing "His & Hers Gifts." These started with matching vicuña coats. Later gifts included matching bathtubs, Beechcraft airplanes, and even live tigers!

The War Years

Despite the focus on fashion, Stanley Marcus also helped the country during World War II. On December 27, 1941, he joined the War Production Board in Washington, D.C.. He was too old for military service. Instead, he helped the war effort by promoting the saving of materials used in fashion.

Marcus suggested that coats, suits, jackets, and dresses be sold separately. This was to make them last longer. These changes were expected to save millions of yards of fabric for the war.

He also worked with the media to promote these new standards. He asked famous women to support the changes. TIME magazine quoted author Adela Rogers St. Johns saying that "the overdressed woman will be as unpatriotically conspicuous as though she wore a Japanese kimono."

Marcus spoke to fashion editors across the country. He encouraged them to tell women that stores would still have attractive styles. This helped prevent shoppers from rushing to buy everything or hoarding clothes.

When Paris, the fashion capital, fell during the war, New York's mayor claimed his city was the new leader. Marcus famously replied, "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."

During the war, there were shortages of silk and new materials like rayon. To help customers, Marcus created the Neiman Marcus Hosiery-of-the-Month Club. It sent two pairs of stockings to female charge-card customers each month. He remembered that "Many women opened charge accounts just to become members of the club."

Taking the Helm

In 1950, after his father passed away, Stanley Marcus became the president and CEO of Neiman Marcus. His aunt, Carrie Marcus Neiman, became chairman of the board.

In 1957, Marcus started another Neiman Marcus tradition: the "International Fortnight." This event was designed to attract customers between the fall fashion season and Christmas. The idea came from seeing a store in Stockholm, Sweden, that had a France-themed sale. Marcus then worked with the French government to create an even bigger event in his store.

The first Fortnight included art, music, and film events around Dallas. An Air France jet brought writers, artists, and models. In later years, the Fortnight focused on different countries. It also added food service and items from that country in every department. This tradition ended in 1986 with the Australian Fortnight. Marcus also brought Dallas its first espresso bar after World War II.

Marcus believed his store should have everything a customer needed. He even helped a customer find Queen Elizabeth II's shoe size to give her a gift. He also made sure the store stocked unique items, like plates with the Mexican national crest. He once personally delivered a fur coat to a customer in St. Louis, Missouri, who couldn't come to Dallas.

One famous story tells of a shopper looking for a gift for his wife. He wasn't sure what to buy, but said he would know it when he saw it. Marcus asked for the wife's clothing sizes. Then he took a large brandy snifter and filled it with colorful cashmere sweaters, like a layered drink. He topped it with a white angora sweater to look like whipped cream. For a "cherry," he added a 10-karat ruby ring. The total cost was $25,350, and the customer happily bought it.

Despite these grand sales, Marcus always stuck to his father's rule: "there is no good sale for Neiman-Marcus unless it is a good buy for the customer." He sometimes convinced buyers to choose a less expensive item if it was more suitable. For example, he once guided a man buying a mink coat for his 16-year-old daughter to a $295 muskrat coat instead. Marcus also believed customers should buy the best quality of a reasonably priced item, rather than a cheaper version of something very expensive.

Marcus also kept his promise to his father that he could express his political views. He supported the United Nations early on, which was not popular in Dallas at the time. In the 1950s, he started to end the store's practice of excluding black customers. In 1954, he began hiring black staff in some departments.

In the 1960s, Marcus felt his city and company needed to promote racial equality. In 1968, he announced that Neiman Marcus would prefer to buy from companies that hired and trained many minority employees. This made his firm one of the first in the country with such a policy.

Civic Leadership

The Marcus family helped found Dallas' Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, a large Reform synagogue. Stanley Marcus became a leader there in the 1950s.

Marcus was known for supporting the arts and defending unpopular political ideas. He brought art exhibits to Neiman Marcus and helped fund art elsewhere in the city. He also had a large private art collection. He helped start the Dallas Opera, saved the Dallas Symphony from money problems, and led the board for the Dallas Museum of Fine Art (now the Dallas Museum of Art).

Once, as museum chairman, Marcus was asked about "Communist art" in an upcoming exhibit. He calmly explained that paintings of baseball or fishing were not Communist. He then went to local newspapers and got them to agree they would not allow censorship in the arts.

In 1952, he organized an exhibit of abstract art. He got famous collectors like David Rockefeller to donate art. He also asked them to invite their Dallas friends, which helped attract a large and appreciative crowd.

Marcus also worked on civil rights and social justice issues. In 1966, three high school students were told to cut their long hair to be allowed into school. They sued, saying it violated their freedom of expression. Even though he didn't know the boys, Marcus publicly supported them. He took out a newspaper ad defending their choice as a simple fashion decision. He even offered legal help. He sent a telegram saying, "I don’t like long hair any more than the principal does, but I will fight for the rights of those students to wear hair any way they choose."

Presidential Connections

Marcus used his public relations skills after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Dallas was then called "City of Hate." Marcus had supported Kennedy's run for president in 1960. He had even warned that Kennedy's visit should be reconsidered because of earlier bad receptions for other politicians in Dallas.

In Kennedy's memory, Marcus had 500 copies of Kennedy's planned speech printed. The first copy went to Kennedy's wife, Jacqueline. On New Year's Day 1964, Marcus published a full-page ad in The Dallas Morning News called "What's Right With Dallas?"

This ad, a Neiman Marcus tradition, defended Dallas but also offered criticisms. It said Dallas needed to fix its slum problem, political extremism, and focus too much on physical growth instead of quality in schools, arts, and museums. It also said Dallas needed to focus less on its "civic image" and more on "doing good things."

After Kennedy's death, Marcus stayed close with President Lyndon B. Johnson and his team. He was even considered for diplomatic jobs. He also provided the wedding dresses for both of Johnson's daughters.

Stepping Down

In 1969, Stanley Marcus suggested that Neiman Marcus merge with Broadway-Hale of California. This would give the company enough money to grow. Neiman Marcus became part of Carter-Hawley Hale, Inc.. Marcus became an executive vice president and director. He officially retired in 1975, and his son, Richard C. Marcus, took over the store.

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.

Even after retiring, Marcus remained involved as an advisor until his death. He started a consulting business, helping luxury car dealerships and hotels. He even advised Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Marcus, then 94, arrived in a tailored suit to meet 300 casually dressed employees. He took off his coat, tie, and shirt, down to his T-shirt, breaking the ice.

Legacy and Contributions

Cover of 2001 edition of Minding the Store

Stanley Marcus wrote a weekly column for The Dallas Morning News for 15 years. He also wrote several books about retailing, including Minding the Store: A Memoir (1974) and Quest for the Best (1979).

He was a close friend of other writers. Historian David McCullough once asked Marcus, "one of the wisest men I know," what he would change in American life if he had a magic wand. Marcus replied, "I'd try to do something about television." He explained that if you could fix television, you could solve many other problems.

Marcus was a passionate art collector. He also collected masks from around the world. In 2002, Sotheby's auction house held a sale of works from his collection. They called him "an insightful and forward-looking collector." His interest in good design grew after a 1925 trip to Europe, where he saw early Art Deco works.

His collections included important works by Mexican artists like Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera. He also collected works by American artists Alexander Calder and Georgia O'Keeffe. Marcus was friends with Rivera and Tamayo. He helped bring one of Tamayo's murals to the Dallas Museum of Art. He was also one of the first board members of the O'Keeffe museum.

Another of Marcus's contributions to the arts was his own photography. He took thousands of photos throughout his life. His granddaughter, Allison V. Smith, who is a professional photographer, scanned these photos and posted them online. For the 100th anniversary of Neiman Marcus, Smith and her mother created a book of his photos called Reflection of a Man. It was published in 2007 and had an exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Southern Methodist University in Dallas has a special collection about Stanley Marcus at its DeGolyer Library. It includes his photographs, letters, and news clippings. The library also has over 8,000 books that Marcus donated.

Awards and Honors

• Inaugural inductee, Retailing Hall of Fame (2004)
• First recipient of the Design Patron award, National Design Awards (2001)
• Inductee, Advertising Hall of Fame (1999)
• Honoree, Linz Award (1995)
• Inductee, Texas Business Hall of Fame (1984)
• Honorary doctoral degree recipient, North Texas State University (1983)
• Honorary Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1972)
• Honorary doctoral degree recipient, Southern Methodist University (1965)
• Recipient, National Retail Merchants Association gold medal (1961)
• New York Fashion Designers Annual Award (1958)
• Chevalier Award, French Legion of Honor, presented on March 27, 1949, for his help in French business recovery
• Elected chairman, American Retailing Federation
• Listed, "The Tallest Texans", Houston Chronicle - profiles of 100 key figures in the state's history
• Listed, "20th Century Great American Business Leaders", Harvard Business School

See also

In Spanish: Stanley Marcus para niños

• History of the Jews in Dallas