ABSTRACT
“The challenge of efficiency in a specialty shop” examines how mid-level department stores capitalized on mass-market merchandising techniques to make themselves more amenable to changing attitudes in American life. As mid-level stores became more popular, specialty retailers began to see the benefits of incorporating proven techniques from that very sector. In this chapter, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue are upheld as exemplars in this regard, and their struggles to find the right balance between exclusivity and accessibility defined the era, as did Eleanor Le Maire, one of the most important designers of the twentieth century. As the interior designer of choice for Neiman Marcus, Le Maire revolutionized the ways in which merchandise was presented and, by extension, sold. Her striking yet clean interiors set the tone for decades to come.
