History Lesson 
O What a Lovely War!!!
Nothing is too lavish if it helps Neiman's and Sakowitz sell a few odds and ends here and there.
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So Bob Sakowitz is the fourth generation member of what he will quickly remind you is the "last family owned specialty store in the country" (since Broadway Hale chain bought Neiman's in 1968), a store which began in men's clothing ("we sold Denton Cooley his first pair of short pants," says Bob proudly), expanded rapidly until it now has four branches in Houston, two in Amarillo (they bought the old White & Kirk firm), one in Scottsdale, and the St. Laurent Rive Gauche boutique opening in Dallas this spring.
In comparison to Bob Sakowitz, Larry Marcus is a come-lately; although when he came, he came with Class. Whether Larry was, as one rumor has it, banished to Houston in 1955 after a divorce or simply given a chance to try his wings as all baby brothers must (he is 12 years younger than Stanley), is a matter of some conjecture. A friend of Larry's speculated recently, "I wonder if Stanley would have relinquished control of the Houston store if he'd realized the punishment would turn out to be the prize."
Part of the prize money has come from South of the Border. Wealthy Mexicans and South Americans tend now to shop in Houston rather than Dallas, partly because it's slightly nearer, but often because they arrange shopping sprees to coincide with trips to their doctors at the Texas Medical Center. It is not at all unusual for such customers to spend thousands (cash or charge) in one day in Neiman's, Foley's and Sakowitz: They buy, say, a year's supply of linens, two dozen pairs of shoes, a fur coat for a teenager, complete wardrobe for a baby or child, etc. The Foley's and Sakowitz downtown stores have nurtured this clientele over the years (favorite hotels for the Spanish speaking have been the Lamar and the Rice, a convenient walk to these two stores, both of which deliver to the hotels). With the advent of the posh new Houston Oaks Hotel at Galleria, however, and with this hotel's special pitch to the Spanish-speaking, Neiman's, Joske's and Sakowitz in Post Oak-Galleria have picked up some of this trade. All three stores have bilingual personnel.
Neiman's regularly sends their fur and jewelry salesmen South of the Border. Richard Burton laid out $125,000 in Puerto Vallarta to buy Liz her Neiman's Koja mink. For that money, Neiman's was happy to send their man down with the coat so Liz in her bikini could pose in it on the beach, and later to fly their fur fitter to California to alter the coat (as well as her mink poncho with sable tails).
For that matter, Neiman's will send their fur and jewelry salesman anywhere and frequently do. "If we know someone in North Texas, or Boston, or Vermont or wherever who's interested in a particular gem, we'll make the trip," says Tony Briggle, head of public relations at Neiman's. A former Neiman's jewel carrier recalls the time he was assigned to deliver a 227 carat black star sapphire to a small Texas community. He walked into one of the few shops in town and was asked, "Ain't you that guy from the Neiman's and Marcus?"
"Yes."
"What's that stone you got to show? Just how big is it?"
"227 carats."
"Is that as big as a horse turd or a hen egg?"
The record does not show the reply, only that the gem was indeed sold.
Just as Neiman's brings the mountain to Mohammed, so Sakowitz has reverse freebies. Consider a certain lady from Mexico City who checked into the Shamrock Hotel in Houston recently according to a routine of many years standing. A Rolls Royce limousine was sent to pick her up for an afternoon's ($8000 worth) shopping spree. Her destination? Sakowitz, which remains a favorite of the Mexicans. Leta Lloret, Sakowitz's Spanish speaking "consumer relations guide," is often a house guest in Mexico City. She helped dress the daughter of the president of Mexico. In one prominent Mexican family, grandmother, mother and daughter all bought their wedding dresses, their trousseaux and most of their clothes at Sakowitz.
No story about Sakowitz would be complete without mention of the best piece of merchandise Bob Sakowitz and the dynasty ever acquired, namely his trendy, certified BP wife, Pam Zauderer, who would look beautiful in a union suit, and who, some say, brought pizzazz to Sakowitz for the first time. Bob and Pam, whose daddy, George Zauderer is said to have made millions in real estate, were married in New York in 1969. 10,000 yellow roses were flown from Texas to decorate the St. Regis Roof reception.
Bob and Pam work hard and play hard. In fact, work and play are quite entwined for them. They've been on the International Best Dressed List. They've vacationed in the Mediterranean on Charles and Lyn Revson's yacht and attended a galaxy of parties everyone jets to get to—along with local luminaries such as the Rainiers, the Burtons, the Aga Khan and his entourage. On these trips, they regularly buy for the store in European markets.
Seldom does a week pass without Women's Wear Daily's EYE column mentioning Pam lunching at Pavillon or La Frogpond (La Grenouille) or partying with her glamorous in-laws (her sister is Mrs. Peter Duchin). Sure, Larry Marcus gets the occasional mention, but it's Sakowitzes six to one, especially since Bob's sister, Lynn (Mrs. Oscar) Wyatt, married to a wealthy Houston oil man, has moved out of the Houston social orbit and into the international society crowd.
When Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt gives a party, which she does frequently, Women's Wear Daily's Hazel Mosely is often there to cover it and to describe who's wearing what. No one ever speculates "I wonder where she bought her clothes?" around Lynn. They know. And Lynn can wear a lot of clothes. On one weekend last year she wore, it was reported, two Diors, a Chanel, an Oscar de la Renta, Halston pants, and an Elsa Peretti silver belt.
Lynn's houseguests may be Truman Capote one week and the tin rich Antenor Patinos the next. As Suzy Knickerbocker once put it, "oil and tin do mix..." Suzy describes the Oscar Wyatt pillared house in River Oaks in her Suzy Says column as "lofty...complete with curving staircase put together with Steuben glass and steel and that cute inty-inty wine cellar—the one Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were so crazy about...
Naturally, Lynn takes her friends shopping at—where else? Beatriz Patino, for example, just loves the Sakowitz Givenchy boutique (a Sakowitz exclusive, by the way, though Neiman's carries Givenchy in Dallas). Wyatt dinner guests will include local Houston heroes (astronauts and doctors are very big in Houston, plus the just plain rich) and out of towners like Mr. Chito Longoria, wealthy Mexican landowner, and his wife who buys many of her clothes in Houston (she shops both Neiman's and Sakowitz). So the two dazzling Sakowitz princesses, Pam Sakowitz and Lynn Sakowitz Wyatt, while apparently playing are, one supposes, in their own way just minding the store.
Pam and her friends frequently wear Yves St. Laurent clothes. And why not! Sakowitz is the only store in the Southwest that carries them. Lest Dallas residents think there's nothing out there in the retail world but Neiman's, Sanger Harris and Titche's, Sakowitz has a mailing list of about 2000 Dallasites. Stanley probably doesn't like it, but Sakowitz even charters an occasional plane to bring Dallasites down for the St. Laurent showing, French luncheon, French wine and then home, all in a day. No one seems to know of anybody who goes from Houston to Dallas to shop.
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