Neiman Marcus turns 100 this year with an eye already on 200
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For the previous 100 years, Neiman Marcus was the sophisticated embodiment of the Milan and Paris runways, staying ahead of the fashion curve as it brought cutting-edge style to its sophisticated and wealthy clientele in the U.S. Now, as it enters its second century, it acknowledges that being fashion-forward is increasingly challenging. The speed of information has become much faster.
In 1907, the year Neiman Marcus first opened its doors in Dallas, a wireless “telephonic” message sent 250 miles from Germany to Denmark was considered a technological breakthrough. The rate of communications has advanced at mach speed since then. It’s now digital, cosmic and immediate.
“In today’s global, real-time information world, the customer often knows the trends before we do,” says Ignaz Gorischek, vp, store development and visual planning. No longer does the retailer have the luxury of seeing, analyzing and digesting the trends before making its fashion offerings to an eager public. “Now, the fashions hit the runways of Europe,” says Gorischek, “and the woman in Des Moines sees it all immediately on the Internet. She downloads and sends the images to her friends on her iPhone or BlackBerry, and suddenly the whole community knows what’s going on. Now they come to us requesting the latest Gucci or Armani they saw on the runway. The challenge for us today is to stay ahead.”
So Neiman Marcus keeps doing what it always has done: knowing its customers’ aspirations, delivering superior customer service and building the best possible stores. The bright and clean ambience continues to be filled with the touches that have meant so much over the years – fresh floral is replaced daily and original artwork abounds. (Neiman Marcus is the only retailer with a full-time in-house art curator.)
Sure, the retailer is using this occasion of its centennial to bathe in nostalgia, recalling the solid, sensible retailing instincts of long-time president Stanley Marcus, the changing fashion looks over the decades, the ads and holiday books and fabulous customer anecdotes. But, Gorischek insists, that’s only for the moment. “All retail should be looking to tomorrow,” he says. “You can’t go forward at 120 miles per hour with your eyes on the rear-view mirror. Well, you can, but you’ll crash.”
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