Mayor Eric Johnson announced December 3 as Carrie Marcus Neiman Day for the City of Dallas. Neiman was a visionary and entrepreneur who aided in shaping Dallas culture and business. In an era where men overshadowed women regarding professional achievements, she was instrumental in paving the path for all aspiring female business leaders and entrepreneurs.
In 1895, Neiman’s family moved from Louisville, Kentucky, to Hillsboro, Texas. She did not receive traditional education; she learned from books, magazines, and newspapers from other countries.
At the young age of twenty-one, Neiman worked as a saleswoman at A. Harris, a small department store in Dallas. Later, she used the $50,000 earned from selling a sales consulting firm in Atlanta that she ran with her husband and brothers to develop the Neiman Marcus store in Dallas.
According to a press release, in 1907, she became the co-founder of Neiman Marcus, a retail store with merchandise that reflects high fashion.
The store opened on September 9, 1907, with a stocked store of $17,000 worth of merchandise. After one month in business, the store was completely sold out, “eliminating any doubts on if a high-end department store could indeed flourish in Dallas.”
The apparel was “European-inspired,” and she always looked at what women in Dallas were looking for and needed. According to The Dallas Morning News, Jerrie Marcus Smith, Carrie’s great-niece, spoke of her ancestor.
“She was in charge of buying all of the merchandise for the new store. …She stayed close to her original ideas of fashion – sophisticated, clean linens, and good-quality materials – and returned with some of the latest women’s styles from New York and Paris to present to her husband and brother. …She knew that the store’s hopes for success were completely dependent on her choosing the right clothes…” Smith recently released her new book titled, A Girl Named Carrie.
Town & Country mentions that Neiman willingly gave fashion advice to her customers, speaking the truth about what looked good and what did not look good. She also gave life advice, as she was a great listener to any story being told by her customers.
Southern Methodist University has an exhibit that honors Carrie Marcus Neiman, “the long-overlooked fashion pioneer” who helped Dallas become what it is today. The exhibit includes photographs, letters, elegant gowns, and archive documents.
