Herbert Marcus
Encyclopedia
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. His various retail, sales and janitorial positions helped him escape the economic hardships of life in Kentucky. He moved to Dallas, Texas
in 1899 and married Minnie Lichtenstein, the mother of his four sons, in 1902. They moved to Atlanta with his sister Carrie and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman
to work for The Coca-Cola Company
. Their success was rewarded with a buyout of $25,000 in exchange for giving up the sales territories in Kansas and or Missouri of the nascent soft drink concern. This $25,000 enabled the Neiman and Marcus families to establish Neiman Marcus
in Dallas in 1907.
Neiman-Marcus specialized in ready made high quality clothes for women at a time when visiting a tailor and or doing extensive alterations at home was the norm. Business grew quickly as cotton and later oil and other industries and population growth buoyed the Texas economy. In 1928 his sister Carrie divorced A. L. Neiman, Herbert bought out Neiman's share, and Neiman-Marcus came entirely under Marcus family control. Herbert became president of Temple Emanu-El (Dallas, Texas), was a director of the Dallas Museum of Art
and held many other civic positions to bolster the culture and well being of the city that made Neiman-Marcus thrive. The Marcus family negotiated with Condé Nast of Condé Nast Publications
and Neiman-Marcus became the first concern located West of the Atlantic Seaboard to advertise luxury fashion in their magazines.
During World War II
Herbert and the Marcus family and employees helped Neiman-Marcus showcase clothing and lifestyles that would be most helpful with regards to rationing and other wartime realities. The post war years brought more lavish fashion shows and finery into Neiman-Marcus as luxury goods returned to fashionability. Carrie Marcus Neiman
and Herbert's sons took increasing responsibility for both fashion and business decisions as Herbert aged. After Herbert's death in 1950 his sister Carrie and then his son Stanley Marcus
took over top management positions.
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...
, and later became its chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
.
Marcus was born in Kentucky but moved to Hillsboro, Texas
Hillsboro, Texas
Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County in Central Texas. The population was 8,232 at the 2000 census.Hillsboro, located on Interstate 35 where I-35E and I-35W meet south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is the primary center for trade and commerce in Hill County...
after dropping out of high school to work and live near his brother Theodore, his three sisters and his parents. His various retail, sales and janitorial positions helped him escape the economic hardships of life in Kentucky. He moved to Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
in 1899 and married Minnie Lichtenstein, the mother of his four sons, in 1902. They moved to Atlanta with his sister Carrie and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman
Abraham Lincoln Neiman
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...
to work for 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...
. Their success was rewarded with a buyout of $25,000 in exchange for giving up the sales territories in Kansas and or Missouri of the nascent soft drink concern. This $25,000 enabled the Neiman and Marcus families to establish 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.
Neiman-Marcus specialized in ready made high quality clothes for women at a time when visiting a tailor and or doing extensive alterations at home was the norm. Business grew quickly as cotton and later oil and other industries and population growth buoyed the Texas economy. In 1928 his sister Carrie divorced A. L. Neiman, Herbert bought out Neiman's share, and Neiman-Marcus came entirely under Marcus family control. Herbert became president of Temple Emanu-El (Dallas, Texas), was a director of the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
and held many other civic positions to bolster the culture and well being of the city that made Neiman-Marcus thrive. The Marcus family negotiated with Condé Nast of Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
and Neiman-Marcus became the first concern located West of the Atlantic Seaboard to advertise luxury fashion in their magazines.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Herbert and the Marcus family and employees helped Neiman-Marcus showcase clothing and lifestyles that would be most helpful with regards to rationing and other wartime realities. The post war years brought more lavish fashion shows and finery into Neiman-Marcus as luxury goods returned to fashionability. Carrie Marcus Neiman
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...
and Herbert's sons took increasing responsibility for both fashion and business decisions as Herbert aged. After Herbert's death in 1950 his sister Carrie and then his son 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...
took over top management positions.