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For over a century Neiman Marcus has been a legendary player in the dazzling world of luxury department stores for the rich.
Usually referred to as just "Neiman's" (to the chagrin of the Marcus family, no doubt), the first store was established in Texas in 1907 by three investors -- Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie, and her husband A.L. Neiman.
Legend has it they were invited to invest their money in a new company about to open up at that time called "Coca-Cola", but they were reluctant to do so. Instead they decided to open a high-end department store for all the new oil-rich Texas millionaires in their hometown of Dallas!
Although the store was an immediate success and has spread to major cities all across the United States, Stanley Marcus, CEO of the company fifty years later, once joked that "Neiman Marcus was founded upon bad business judgement!"
The best way to understand this store is to take a look at their website. Here's the link to the amazing world of Neiman Marcus. (But be prepared to spend a little time!)
Since I'm writing this during the holidays, Neiman's current home page has a link to "The Christmas Book". It's down at the bottom, in red. If you hit this link you'll be taken to a page where you have two options:
"Shop the Flip Book" is great fun. You can actually turn the pages of the magazine yourself, just click at the corner. (You can do it more slowly by click and drag, which looks like turning the pages of a real magazine.)
And "Watch the Fantasy Gift Video" is awesome! Do me a favor and click on that! Then, click on "His & Hers 2012", and watch that video. For two dreamy minutes you'll be taken inside a Van Cleef & Arpels watch, which is absolutely mesmerizing!
The original spelling of Neiman Marcus was Neiman-Marcus, with a hyphen. And over the years the store has acquired the jestful nickname "Needless Mark-up"! Which I'm sure you've heard, of course.
And perusing "The Christmas Book" for only a few moments will reinforce the intended humor! Ha! The prices are outta sight!
But at least we can dream, and "window shop", right?
Happy holiday shopping!
Andrew
This is where Mister Lucas gets a lot of his shopping done, especially shoes. I've never seen a young guy with so many shoes and sandals, but what really shocked me was going through the website and seeing the price of some of them! Yikes! Now my hands are gonna tremble when i'm polishing his Salvatorre Feregamos haha.
ReplyDeleteCan't you send them out to a shoe shop for polishing? That's what we do. None of us here wants to get our hands soiled. Ha! And the professionals do a better job.
DeleteI guess I could look into it. Isn't it traditionally the valet's job to care for his employer's clothes? As of now I take complete care of all of Mister Lucas' clothes and shoes, which sometimes means i'm cleaning several pairs of shoes and sandals a day!
DeleteYes, it's definitely your job, as Valet. But we don't have a traditional Valet in this house, so the shoe polishing would fall on my shoulders, or I could pass it off to the Groundskeepers, who used to do this job before I got here. But my choice is to send the shoes out. It's a fortunate luxury I can afford in the household budget, and take full advantage.
DeleteI love this store so much and was happy you wrote about it. With a limited budget I can only afford to hit their sales, and I'm always first in line. Well usuallay. Sometimes I walk through the store just to dream and keep up with what is current. My girlfriends and I really enjoy your blog. L.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet of you to comment, Leslie. I do the same thing -- stroll thru Neiman's all the time, just to see what's up, what's in and what's out. As I'm always returning or exchanging things for the Missus, I'm there frequently! Ha!
DeleteThanks for reading, and hello to your friends.
Andrew