Tulsa’s Iconic Miss Jackson’s Turns 100 - A History Lesson In Customer Service…
TULSA, OK. – March 15, 2010
How One Elegant Retailer Survived a Century of Ups & Downs in the U.S. Economy.
Miss Jackson’s, Tulsa’s iconic upscale department store, turns 100 next month, setting off a series of special events and spectacular tributes. An invitation-only gala on April 8th, will be followed by a weekend of trunk shows, informal modeling, and designer appearances. Customers will be treated to a series of spectacular window displays, each representing a different decade in the life of one of America’s most enduring department stores.
Yes, there really was a Miss Jackson -
Opening its doors in April of 1910, just three years after the Glenpool Oil Strike, Miss Jackson’s arrived with little fanfare and great expectations. The brainchild of Pittsburgh native Nelle Shields Jackson, the store was an instant success, thanks to Jackson’s background as a milliner, personal shopper and corsetiere, and a level of customer service Tulsa had never experienced.
Backed by the Beane Vandever Dry Goods Company, Jackson’s previous employer, the store and its square footage grew as quickly as its reputation for exquisite taste and unparalled service.
Within months of opening, Nelle Jackson’s modest lingerie shop had outgrown its quarters on the balcony of a jewelry store and moved to a larger facility on South Main. From there it was on to the Sinclair building and later, the Philtower, where the store would remain for the next 37 years.
In the 1930s, Nelle Jackson’s fortitude would be challenged when boom times turned bust, and the store, like the nation, was rocked by The Great Depression. Even in the face of foreclosure, she refused to sacrifice service for savings. Miss Jackson’s would go on to not only survive, but also thrive. And so it was, and is, that through upswings and downturns, in good times and bad, Tulsans know that they could—and can count on the store they have come to think of as their own.
When ill health forced Nelle to hang up her well-milled hat in the mid-1950s, she sold
Miss Jackson’s to Tulsa businessman A. Ray Smith. A decade later, the Vandever
Company took over, moving the store to its current location in fashionable Utica Square.
“It had the highest quality merchandise in town,” recalls W. H. Helmerich, III whose company, Helmerich & Payne, Inc., owned the shopping center, “so it was a big plus for us.”
In 1965, Miss Jackson’s was purchased by William F. Fisher, Sr. and Fishercorp Inc. Fisher retired in 2001, selling the store to Helmerich and Payne, Inc. Like those before him, Helmerich continues to retain Nelle’s passion for service, believing that the store exists, as its namesake said, “To make life more elegant and enjoyable for its patrons…”
A world of simple pleasures and special treasures -
From a complement to a complimentary beverage, a key ring to a diamond ring, Miss Jackson’s continues to woo and delight its customers with roomy dressing rooms, an in-house alteration department, knowledgeable staffers, complimentary delivery and gift wrap service for even the most modest of purchases. These small but significant gestures, as generations of loyal Miss Jackson's shoppers will attest, prove that it’s the little things that count.
Judy White, General Manager of Miss Jackson’s, believes success is a matter of staying true to your customer base. “Tulsans have learned they can trust Miss Jackson’s to take care of them, look after them, even shop for them,” she says, referring to the store’s personnel shopper and by-appointment services, and buyers who regularly search out the perfect gift or gown for a particular customer at market.
You’ll find it here –
Miss Jackson’s is filled with temptations to delight young and old alike, offering the discriminating shopper everything from that little black dress and pearls, to the latest, hippest and hottest fashions. Fine chocolate, jewelry, furs, shoes, gowns, silver, and crystal – it’s right here, including an outstanding cosmetic and skincare selection. From top (where you’ll find the Penthouse Salon) to bottom, Miss Jackson’s has it. If, perchance, they don’t, they’ll special order it for you.
After one hundred years, Miss Jackson’s is still Tulsa’s shining star: an old soul, wrapped in a bright and vibrant package. Little wonder that Walt Helmerich still considers it to be “ a key to Utica Square’s success.” Old, new, tried and true, Miss Jackson’s is one of a kind. April’s birthday celebration is another milestone in the city’s on-going love affair with this most extraordinary Centenarian.
Utica Square –
Utica Square has been the anchor of midtown Tulsa’s shopping and restaurant district since it opened on May 22,1952. At the time, the project was considered risky; the concerned neighborhood surrounding Tulsa’s first suburban shopping center feared that it would change the very fabric of their community. Instead, Utica Square quickly became the City’s premier shopping and dining destination. When Helmerich & Payne, Inc. purchased the center in 1964, Walt Helmerich commissioned the planting of over 300 additional trees to "make the Square even more beautiful." As a result, today’s Utica Square is not only known for its quality stores and restaurants but its handsomely manicured gardens and trees.
***
