Abraham Lincoln Neiman
Encyclopedia
Abraham Lincoln "Al" Neiman was born on July 4, 1875 in Chicago, Illinois and raised in a Jewish orphanage in Cleveland, Ohio. He met his first wife Carrie Marcus Neiman
in Dallas, Texas while they were working at A. Harris & Company. They married in 1905 and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia with Carrie's brother Herbert Marcus
and sister in law Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus
to do sales promotion work. The Coca-Cola Company
is known as their most notable client although at the time they weren't too enthusiastic about its future. Therefore, they relinquished rights to sales territories in the nascent soft drink to concern for $25,000 which the Neiman and Marcus families used to open Neiman Marcus
in Dallas in 1907.
Al became the broker and promoter for the specialty ready-to-wear ladies fine clothing shop. At the time most ladies of means traveled to New York and even Europe for custom tailoring. He traveled widely as well to insure that Neiman Marcus could bring the best clothing money could buy to Dallas from New York and wherever else it could be found. When the store burned down in 1913 New York investors he knew helped to rebuild it. In the 1920s his nephew Stanley Marcus
left Harvard Business School
to work at Neiman Marcus and their personalities often clashed which added to the tensions he already felt with the large and successful Marcus family. In 1928 he admitted to ongoing infidelity to his wife Carrie so they divorced and Herbert bought out Al's share for $250,000 on the condition that he couldn't legally compete with Neiman Marcus in Dallas.
During the remainder of his life he often lived in New York and Chicago and he worked at companies such as Henry C. Lytton's of Chicago. He married Dorothy Squires, a fashion model, in 1938 and they adopted World War II refugees Diana and Ursula Woolf after discovering they were unable to have their own children. As he aged he became ever more well known for extravagant spending habits while at the same time he developed a reputation for sloppy business practices. Dorothy died of cancer suddenly in 1962 and Al, now penniless, returned to Dallas. His ex-nephew Stanley visited him out of fears that few others would before Al's death at a Masonic home in Arlington, Texas
in 1970.
Carrie Marcus Neiman
Carrie Marcus was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Jewish German immigrants Delia 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 Dallas, Texas in 1899 and married Abraham...
in Dallas, Texas while they were working at A. Harris & Company. They married in 1905 and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia with Carrie's brother Herbert Marcus
Herbert Marcus
Herbert Marcus was one of the co-founders of Neiman Marcus, and later became its chief executive officer.Marcus was born in Kentucky but moved to Hillsboro, Texas after dropping out of high school to work and live near his brother Theodore, his three sisters and his parents...
and sister in law Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus
Minnie Lichtenstein Marcus
Minnie Lichtenstein was born in Dallas in 1882. Her father Meyer Lichtenstein had immigrated from Königsberg, Germany and her mother Hattie Mittenthal had come from Russia via Peoria, Illinois. She married Herbert Marcus in 1902 and gave birth to the first of their four sons Stanley Marcus in 1905...
to do sales promotion work. The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
is known as their most notable client although at the time they weren't too enthusiastic about its future. Therefore, they relinquished rights to sales territories in the nascent soft drink to concern for $25,000 which the Neiman and Marcus families used to open Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
in Dallas in 1907.
Al became the broker and promoter for the specialty ready-to-wear ladies fine clothing shop. At the time most ladies of means traveled to New York and even Europe for custom tailoring. He traveled widely as well to insure that Neiman Marcus could bring the best clothing money could buy to Dallas from New York and wherever else it could be found. When the store burned down in 1913 New York investors he knew helped to rebuild it. In the 1920s his nephew Stanley Marcus
Stanley Marcus
Harold Stanley Marcus was an early president and later chairman of the board of the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, which his father and aunt had founded in 1907...
left Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
to work at Neiman Marcus and their personalities often clashed which added to the tensions he already felt with the large and successful Marcus family. In 1928 he admitted to ongoing infidelity to his wife Carrie so they divorced and Herbert bought out Al's share for $250,000 on the condition that he couldn't legally compete with Neiman Marcus in Dallas.
During the remainder of his life he often lived in New York and Chicago and he worked at companies such as Henry C. Lytton's of Chicago. He married Dorothy Squires, a fashion model, in 1938 and they adopted World War II refugees Diana and Ursula Woolf after discovering they were unable to have their own children. As he aged he became ever more well known for extravagant spending habits while at the same time he developed a reputation for sloppy business practices. Dorothy died of cancer suddenly in 1962 and Al, now penniless, returned to Dallas. His ex-nephew Stanley visited him out of fears that few others would before Al's death at a Masonic home in Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
in 1970.