Hello, Dallas! Neiman Marcus and the Downtown Main Street District • Southern Chick Journal

Neiman Marcus, my favorite department store, is based in Dallas, and it’s headquarters is located in the Main Street District. It’s a big Renaissance Revival building that sits at the corner of the 1600 block in downtown. Of course when me, my mom and aunt had a one-night stay in Dallas, we had to go check it out during our day in the Main Street District. It is the last of the original department stores still serving downtown Dallas.

Southern Chick Journal: Dallas — A red awning welcomes shoppers into Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas. According to a plaque outside, the building was designed for Neiman Marcus to replace its previous store on Elm Street which burned in 1913. It opened it doors to the public in 1914.

There is something so nostalgic about downtown department stores. I guess because nowadays they don’t really exist anymore. What was once a booming city-center shopping destination is now converted into condos, office space, or, worse yet, an empty building in too many cities around the country.

I remember when I was a kid we’d go to downtown Atlanta during Christmas time and ride the Pink Pig on the Rich’s rooftop. The line for the ride snaked through the department store and we waited for hours for our turn in the metal capsule shaped like a pig.

The original Pink Pig is now gone and so is the downtown department store, but it’s preserved in my mind and is one of my most magical memories from childhood. Maybe that’s why I love downtown department stores so much.

We were so excited to learn downtown Dallas has one of these gems and relics from the past….enjoy my Southern Chick Journal Lookbook of Neiman Marcus and the Main Street District: