39 Facts About Stanley Marcus

Harold Stanley Marcus was 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.

Stanley Marcus served his local community as an avid patron of the fine arts and as a civic leader.

Stanley Marcus introduced many of the innovations for which Neiman-Stanley Marcus became known, creating a national award for service in fashion and hosting art exhibitions in the store itself, as well as weekly fashion shows and an annual Fortnight event highlighting a different foreign country for two weeks each year.

Stanley Marcus established the Neiman-Marcus Christmas Catalogue, which became famous for extravagant "His and Hers" gifts such as airplanes and camels.

Stanley Marcus received the Chevalier Award from the French Legion of Honor, was listed in the Houston Chronicle's list of the 100 most important Texans, and was named by Harvard Business School among the greatest American Business Leaders of the 20th century.

Stanley Marcus was born in The Cedars, Dallas, Texas, the son of Herbert Stanley Marcus Sr.

Stanley Marcus was the first of four sons born to Herbert Sr.

Stanley Marcus attended Forest Avenue High School, where he studied debate as well as English with teacher Myra Brown, whom he later credited with much of his early interest in books.

Stanley Marcus began his university studies at Amherst College, but when traditions preventing Jews from joining clubs or fraternities drastically curtailed his social life, he transferred to Harvard College after the first year.

The venture proved so successful that for a time Stanley Marcus considered entering that line of work full time, concerned that entering the retail business might curtail his freedom of expression in politics and other areas of interest; his father persuaded him that he would always be granted the liberty of his own views, and pointed out that retailing was more profitable and thus would allow him to amass a large book collection that much sooner.

Stanley Marcus donated his collection of 78s to record-store owner Bill Wisener, a friend and fellow Texan.

Stanley Marcus went back to study at Harvard Business School in 1926, leaving after one year to participate in a massive expansion of the retail operation in Dallas.

Stanley Marcus married the former Mary "Billie" Cantrell in 1932; she initially worked in the Neiman-Marcus Sports Shop department until she retired in 1936 after the birth of their first child, Jerrie, followed two years later by twins Richard and Wendy.

Stanley Marcus was responsible for a number of innovations at the Dallas retailer.

Stanley Marcus created the annual Neiman-Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in Fashion, beginning in 1938, which led to the Neiman-Marcus Exposition, a fall fashion show held annually from 1938 to 1970, then periodically thereafter.

Stanley Marcus encouraged men to wear drooping socks and devised regulations for the manufacture of women's and children's clothing that would enable the nation to divert more textile resources to uniforms and other war-related needs:.

Conscious of the role of the media in fashion promotion, Stanley Marcus prompted the members of the National Retail Dry Goods Association to convince their local press outlets to treat women's fashions as a serious subject rather than as an object of ridicule.

Stanley Marcus addressed the fashion press in national meetings, encouraging editors to reassure women that stores would carry adequate supply of attractive styles, in order to prevent shoppers from flooding the stores or hoarding stock.

Stanley Marcus's work promoting cooperation with the WPB's mandates did not still Marcus's competitive instincts.

Stanley Marcus began yet another Neiman-Stanley Marcus tradition, the "International Fortnight," in 1957 as a way to attract customers in the lull between the fall fashion rush and the Christmas shopping crunch.

The idea was inspired by seeing a store in Stockholm, Sweden, that was having a France-themed sales promotion, leading Stanley Marcus to propose to the French government a sponsorship of an even more elaborate event in his own store.

When one customer decided his Christmas purchases were not sufficiently impressive, Stanley Marcus helped to arrange a full duplication of the store's display window, complete with mannequins and lighting, inside the man's home.

Stanley Marcus routinely insisted customers would be wiser to buy the top quality of a reasonably priced line rather than scaled-down or second-rate versions of an expensive product.

Stanley Marcus continued throughout his tenure to hold tightly to his father's assurance that he would be able to maintain and act on his political convictions while running the business.

Stanley Marcus supported the United Nations in its early years, an unpopular position in Dallas for that time.

The Stanley Marcus family had been among the founders of Dallas' Temple Emanu-El, a Reform synagogue that is today the largest in the Southwest.

Stanley Marcus was well known for cultivating the arts and for defending even unpopular political causes.

Stanley Marcus introduced art exhibits at Neiman-Marcus as well as providing corporate sponsorship of artwork elsewhere in the city, and cultivated an extensive private collection.

Stanley Marcus helped found the Dallas Opera, helped save the Dallas Symphony from a financial crisis, and served as chairman of the board for the Dallas Museum of Fine Art.

In organizing a 1952 exhibition of abstract art, Stanley Marcus lured local leaders to the show by two means.

Stanley Marcus's efforts were rewarded by a numerous and appreciative turnout for the show.

Stanley Marcus involved himself in issues of civil rights and social justice.

An early supporter of Kennedy's run for the presidency, Stanley Marcus had tolerated the closing of several customers' accounts when he announced his support for the candidate in the 1960 elections.

In Kennedy's memory, Stanley Marcus arranged to have 500 hand-typeset and bound copies printed of Kennedy's scheduled speech at the Dallas Trade Mart, of which the first copy went to Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline.

In 1969 Stanley Marcus recommended to the board of directors that the company merge with Broadway-Hale of California in order to have enough capital to expand.

Stanley Marcus retired as Chairman Emeritus in 1975, turning over the store to his son, Richard C Marcus.

Stanley Marcus established a sideline as a retailing consultant, maintaining regular business hours in his offices at Crescent Court for more than a decade and offering advice locally to luxury car dealership Sewell Corporation and hotelier Rosewood Corporation as well as internationally to such businessmen as Mohamed Al-Fayed of Harrods.

Stanley Marcus was an avid art collector, as well as amassing a collection of masks from around the world.

The library houses a collection of more than 8,000 books donated by Stanley Marcus, including 1,100 miniature books, many from the press he founded.