[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 7 (Tuesday, February 5, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E92]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO MR. STANLEY MARCUS

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                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 5, 2002

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to 
commemorate the passing of a great American, Mr. Stanley Marcus. During 
his lifetime, Mr. Marcus pioneered advances in the retail clothing 
market, helped make the Neiman Marcus department store a Texas 
institution and made substantial contributions to the social and 
cultural life of North Texas.
  Mr. Marcus's father, aunt and uncle founded Neiman Marcus in downtown 
Dallas in 1907. Mr. Marcus graduated from Harvard University in 1925 
and received a master's degree in business administration from 
Harvard's business school a year later.
  In 1926, at the age of 21, he took over as the company's secretary, 
treasurer and director. He went on to become executive vice president, 
president, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and chairman 
of the executive committee. Mr. Marcus retired from the company in 1975 
with the title Chairman Emeritus.
  Stanley Marcus was part of the first generation to celebrate and to 
sell designer fashion in the United States. In the 1920s, Neiman Marcus 
was the first to offer personalized gift wrapping for customers and 
created the first weekly retail fashion show in the country. Neiman 
Marcus became the first retail apparel store outside New York to 
advertise in national fashion magazines.
  His merchandising genius became legendary. Stanley Marcus believed in 
elegance, equating it with a keen understanding of appropriateness. He 
transformed a modest downtown Dallas shop into a world-renowned synonym 
for quality. ``Vogue'' magazine in 1953 described the store as ``Texas 
with a French accent.'' One example of his marketing prowess was the 
introduction of exotic his and-her gifts in 1960, which turned the 
arrival of the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog into a major news story 
each year. Today, Neiman Marcus has 32 stores nationwide, from Honolulu 
to Boston.
  While creating a retail empire was one of his greatest achievements, 
Mr. Marcus contributed to the lives of North Texans in other ways. He 
published books, wrote articles for the ``Dallas Morning News'', 
lectured, and founded the Stanley and Linda Marcus Foundation, which 
benefits endeavors of art and culture. He helped create the Dallas 
Opera and helped save the Dallas Symphony when it experienced financial 
difficulties. He was an art collector and connoisseur who defended the 
right of the Dallas Museum of Art to display controversial works. Even 
in his 90s, his civic devotion never flagged. Stanley Marcus is a 
recipient of Dallas's prestigious Linz Award, which is given for 
significant humanitarian and civic efforts.
  I have a special place in my heart for Stanley Marcus. When I first 
ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1972, I was working at 
the Veteran's Hospital in Dallas. Under the Hatch Act, government 
employees could not seek elected office. Mr. Stanley provided me a job 
and critical moral support during my campaign, and this opportunity 
gave me the political beginning that ultimately brought me to Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, when we think about Neiman Marcus, we think about style, 
elegance, and a joie de vivre. Mr. Marcus epitomized these 
characteristics. His death on Tuesday, January 22, at the age of 96 is 
a great loss for the city of Dallas and the nation.

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