Carrie Marcus Neiman

Carrie Marcus Neiman was an American businessperson.

Carrie Marcus was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Jewish German immigrants Delia (Bloomfield) and Jacob Marcus. Jacob was a cotton broker and in 1895 the family followed a daughter to Hillsboro, Texas when she married a grocer there. Carrie moved with her family to Hillsboro, Texas in 1893 and then she moved to Dallas, following her brother Herbert. She married Abraham Lincoln "Al" Neiman there on April 25, 1905. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia briefly to work with The Coca-Cola Company and do other sales promotion work she and her husband and brother Herbert Marcus and sister in law Minnie (Marcus) founded Neiman Marcus in 1907 in Dallas with $25,000 the Neiman and Marcus families had garnered in Georgia. Carrie was recovering in the hospital from typhoon fever on opening day.^[1][2]

In the early 1900s Texan women of means traveled to New York or even Europe for custom tailoring so Neiman Marcus had to shoot high. Therefore, Carrie and a growing cadre of buyers including Moira Cullen specialized in requisitioning high quality, luxurious ready-to-wear garments for ladies from New York, Europe and anywhere else quality garments could be made to meet their exacting standards. The efforts of the founding families, their employees, and the success of the Texas cotton, cattle and later oil and related industries made Neiman Marcus a continuing and growing success story. Carrie and many others became a part of Dallas and retailing history and she was designated a "symbol of elegance" by Holiday (magazine). She, her husband and the Marcus family she came from also figure prominently in the History of the Jews in Dallas, Texas.

In 1928 Carrie's husband's continued infidelity brought about their divorce and a full buyout of the store by her brother Herbert Marcus and the Marcus clan. She was then instrumental in the implementation of the store's fashion shows and in the annual Neiman Marcus Fashion Award beginning in 1938 for outstanding fashion designers. In 1950 her brother Herbert died and she became the chair of Neiman Marcus. She approved of the Preston Road Neiman Marcus branch store before her death in 1953 when Stanley Marcus and other family members took top management responsibilities.^[3]

References