Minding The Store

Stanley Marcus spent most of his life helping to create the retail enterprise Neiman Marcus, and his business philosophies remain an important part of the training of the store's personnel. This is both a portrait of a man and a celebration of the store that is a well-known landmark in Texas.

“I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I could go for a second helping!”—Amy Sedaris “Entrepreneurs will learn a thing or two about translating a dream into thoughtful business growth, and everyone will laugh, cry, and nod along with a woman who has chosen to live an extraordinary life amidst many piles of dishes.” —Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, founder of Shake Shack, author of the New York Times bestseller Setting the Table In this charming graphic memoir, the founder of an iconic housewares shop recounts the ups and downs—and ups again—of starting a family business, starting a family, and staying true to one’s path while trying to make it in the Big City. Whether it’s a set of vintage plates from a 1920s steamship, a mug with a New Yorker cartoon on it, a tin of sprinkles designed by Amy Sedaris, or a juice glass from a Jazz Age hotel, Fishs Eddy products are distinctly recognizable. A New York institution, Fishs Eddy also remains a family business whose owners endured the same challenges as many family businesses—and lived to write about it in this tale filled with humorous characterizations of opinionated relatives, nosy neighbors, quirky employees, and above all the eccentric foibles of the founders themselves. Readers come to know author Julie Gaines and her husband, with whom she founded the store, and because this is a family business, the illustrations are all in the family, too: their son Ben Lenovitz’s drawings bring Fishs Eddy to life with a witty style a la Roz Chast and Ben Katchor. Over the years the store has collaborated with artists and celebrities such as Charley Harper and Todd Oldham, Alan Cumming, and many others to produce original designs that are now found in thousands of stores throughout the country, and Fishs Eddy has garnered a huge amount of media coverage. A great gift for anyone who has ever dreamed of opening a little business—or anyone with any kind of dream—Minding the Store offers wisdom, inspiration, and an exceedingly entertaining story.

"'There is never a good sale for Neiman Marcus unless it's a good buy for the customer.' That was one of the first declarations of business philosophy I heard my father, Herbert Marcus, make soon after I came to work at Neiman Marcus in 1926." Thus began the 1974 edition of Minding the Store. Reprinted in hardcover in 1997 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Neiman Marcus, it is now available for the first time in paperback. Mr. Marcus spent most of his life not only in helping to create a retailing enterprise renowned throughout the world as the epitome of quality, but also in setting high standards for the level of taste of all who desire "the better things in life." In doing so he has played a key role in making Dallas itself a success. "Mr. Stanley," as he was affectionately called by all his Neiman Marcus friends and associates, made The Store a legendary success. Although he retired from active involvement in Neiman Marcus in 1977, the influences of the philosophies of business he developed remained an important part of the training of Neiman Marcus personnel. Those basic principles--best exemplified by his belief in his father's business philosophy--are the reasons Neiman Marcus is today recognized as the taste leader of American retailing. Minding the Store is a warm portrait of a man and an exuberant celebration of the store that has become the best-known landmark in Texas since the Alamo.

In a course he taught at Harvard Business School, esteemed psychiatrist Robert Coles asked future money market managers and risk arbitrageurs to pause for a semester and reflect on the ethical dimensions of their chosen profession. Now, for corporate professionals, armchair entrepreneurs and other students of commerce, Coles has gathered a generous and stimulating collection of classic literary reflections on the ethical and spiritual predicaments of the business world.

"Quest for the Best is not just a nostalgic look, however, at the age of handcrafted elegance. Marcus gives good advice on how consumers can educate themselves about the best, demand it, and get it. He describes his own experiences with the best in chapters such as "The Things You Love to Touch" and "Bed and Board." Witty, urbane, but always accessible, Marcus is a joy to read."--BOOK JACKET.

MacKinnon, Canada's first female finance minister, provides keen observations on how personalities and shared regional perspectives cut across party affiliations in the evolution of federal-provincial deliberations on managing the debt crisis. Although initially opposed to the radical cuts and downloading unilaterally imposed by the federal minister of Finance in his 1995 budget, she now argues that they were essential and analyses how they have irrevocably transformed the Canadian federation. MacKinnon provides a timely analysis of the implications of the fiscal crisis for the future of medicare and Canada's other social programs and shows why politicians must involve the Canadian public in an open and frank debate about the challenges and choices facing the nation.

Wholesale chaos in the world of Retail... Derrick Payton, assistant manager of a high-end home improvement store, has been waiting nine years for a promotion to full store manager. Now, the job has fallen into his lap. Unfortunately, the store he’s been handed is on a downhill skid, and he only has a week to turn it around. Now he has to battle crazy customers, employees who think the time clock is optional, and the dreaded Wicked Witches of the West—a pair of back-stabbing female associates who are determined to see him go down in flames. His wife is pushing him to ask for a raise; his staff is trying to push him out the do∨ and his customers are about to push him over the edge. Caught in the middle, Derrick can’t help but wonder... Who says the customer is always right?