Ebby Halliday
Encyclopedia
Ebby Halliday is an American
realtor and businesswoman who founded Ebby Halliday Realtors, which now sells more homes than any other broker in Texas
, was the 11th-biggest in the country in 2007, according to a new report from RealTrends Inc.
She is one of the first successful female entrepreneur
s in Dallas. Halliday, as a centenarian, still drives herself to work every day. As chairman of the board of her company, she continues to be active in its management.
Halliday graduated from high school in Abilene, Kansas
in 1929. Even though the Great Depression
was burying the financial well-being of millions, she got a $10-a-week job selling women’s hats at The Jones Store
in Kansas City
. In less than a year, she was the top salesperson. In 1938, she was asked to take over the millinery department at Dallas’ W.A. Green Store. Soon she had her own Dallas boutique, Ebby’s Hats.
One day in 1945, Clint Murchison Sr. stopped by her store to see her. “Ebby, I’ve built a bunch of houses out of concrete. Everyone says they’re ugly. Must be, I haven’t sold a one. I figure if you can sell my wife some of those awful hats she comes home with, selling my concrete houses will be a piece of cake for you.”
Ebby took the challenge, improved them with carpet, curtains and cottage furniture, and sold all of them within a year – the two-bedrooms for $7,000 and the three-bedrooms for $9,500. She was inspired by this experience to enter the real estate business full time.
She married former FBI agent, Maurice Acers, while she built Ebby Halliday, Realtors, into a company of more than thirty-one offices, fifteen hundred agents, and the company that in 2005 participated in $3.8 billion of sales for 17,500 Dallas area families. In 2009, Real Trends magazine ranked Ebby Halliday, Realtors as the 10th largest real estate brokerage in the United States. She turned 100
in March 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
realtor and businesswoman who founded Ebby Halliday Realtors, which now sells more homes than any other broker in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, was the 11th-biggest in the country in 2007, according to a new report from RealTrends Inc.
She is one of the first successful female entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s in Dallas. Halliday, as a centenarian, still drives herself to work every day. As chairman of the board of her company, she continues to be active in its management.
Halliday graduated from high school in Abilene, Kansas
Abilene, Kansas
Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...
in 1929. Even though the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
was burying the financial well-being of millions, she got a $10-a-week job selling women’s hats at The Jones Store
The Jones Store
The Jones Store Company was an American chain of department stores located in the Kansas City area formerly operated by Mercantile Stores Company and the St. Louis, Missouri-based May Co.-History:...
in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. In less than a year, she was the top salesperson. In 1938, she was asked to take over the millinery department at Dallas’ W.A. Green Store. Soon she had her own Dallas boutique, Ebby’s Hats.
One day in 1945, Clint Murchison Sr. stopped by her store to see her. “Ebby, I’ve built a bunch of houses out of concrete. Everyone says they’re ugly. Must be, I haven’t sold a one. I figure if you can sell my wife some of those awful hats she comes home with, selling my concrete houses will be a piece of cake for you.”
Ebby took the challenge, improved them with carpet, curtains and cottage furniture, and sold all of them within a year – the two-bedrooms for $7,000 and the three-bedrooms for $9,500. She was inspired by this experience to enter the real estate business full time.
She married former FBI agent, Maurice Acers, while she built Ebby Halliday, Realtors, into a company of more than thirty-one offices, fifteen hundred agents, and the company that in 2005 participated in $3.8 billion of sales for 17,500 Dallas area families. In 2009, Real Trends magazine ranked Ebby Halliday, Realtors as the 10th largest real estate brokerage in the United States. She turned 100
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
in March 2011.
External links
- Ebby Halliday, 98, visits client, 97 – The Dallas Morning News
- Official site
- Top 280 Companies ranked by 2003 sales volume – realtor.org
- February 2006 Newsletter – Farmers Branch Chamber of Commerce
- Yellow Rose Named For Texas Legend Ebby Halliday