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MARJ JACKSON LEVIN
Special to the Jewish News

f a gender-imposed glass ceiling
was placed over Ariela Shani, she'd
see right through it.. The sky's the
limit as far as the new vice presi-
dent/general manager of Neiman Marcus
in Troy is concerned.
Moving from South Africa, Shani
landed in Houston and the booming oil
industry of the early 1980s. That was
when she hit the "good-old-boy" wall.
"Can you believe the first thing they
asked me was if I could type?" she said.
"And me, with an MBA!''
Shani is still indigriant, but the Texas
oil industry's loss was the retail industry's
gain. She joined Foley's Department
Stores, a Houston-based company, as a
financial analyst and department manag-
er.
Three years later, in Dallas, she
became a financial analyst for the upscale
Neiman Marcus retail.Chain of 31 stores.
She's now been with Neiman Marcus for
17 years, and last October, still in her
40s, Shani was made a vice president of
the chain. She was given the plum assign-
ment of general managing the six-year-
old Neiman Marcus store at the Somerset
Collection in Troy.
Shani is particularly pleased with the
store at Somerset, calling it one of the
most beautiful facilities in the chain. "We

tion and community service departments all report
to her.
Neiman Marcus has a comprehensive training
program for managers and sales staff that is person-
alized within each store. Shani meets frequently
with employees to keep up to date. "I have to," she
says, "because the buck stops here.
One of her major areas of concentration is tak-
ing part in Detroit charity events. "I believe partic-
ipating in community activities is essential," says
Shani. "It's the way we get to know our cus-
tomers."
Recently, Neiman Marcus contributed merchan-
dise, including a Judith Lieber handbag, to a
Karmanos Cancer Institute benefit. Shani and her
husband, Asa, attended both the patron party and
the formal ball held at Compuware headquarters in
Farmington Hills. Attending functions shows sup-
port and is a way to become familiar with the fash-
ion tastes of the community, she says.
Shani attributes her rise to the executive suite to
one important trait: perseverance. "You have to say
to yourself, will make it work. I won't give up. I
can get around these difficult times.' You build
self-confidence and it pays off."
"Ariela is doing a marvelous job," says Becky
Maccardini, director of operations for Forbes
Cohen Properties, owners of the Somerset
Collection. "She's incredibly capable and we're
thrilled to have her at Nieman Marcus."
Shani credits her parents with setting the exam-
ple. Her father, John Brownstone, was one of the
few Greek Jews to survive the Holocaust. He
escaped to Palestine as a teenager and became a
fighter pilot with the British Royal Air Force dur-

International Flavor

Ariela Shani brings a worldly sophistication to Neiman Marcus.

learned some things from the other stores to come
up with a newer, more user-friendly design," she
says.
Although all the merchandise buying for
Neiman Marcus is done through its Dallas head-
quarters, Shani is responsible for every other opera-
tion of the store. She spends a lot of time on the
floor and calls herself a "hands-on" executive.
"I like to see happy customers," says Shani. "I
don't believe in being detached." Her job, she says,
is to ensure that the store receives the best mer-
chandise kir its customers and that they are served
by a positive workforce.
She oversees all in-house operations, from plant
management to the budget office. Managers of the
human resources, sales, customer service, promo-

ing World War II. His parents and siblings died in
Auschwitz.
Dina Barzelai Brownstone, Shani's mother, left
Lithuania during the 1930s with her family and
moved to Palestine. Most of her relatives died at
the hands of the Nazis. Dina became a dancer with
the famed Habima Theater, met Brownstone and
moved to Rhodesia with him after the war. Ariela
("My name in Hebrew means lioness and angel" )
was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now
Harare, Zimbabwe). She's one of five siblings.
The family moved to Cape Town, South Africa,
where Ariela attended school and studied ballet.
She completed her last two years of high school in
Vernon, Conn., after her father, at age 40, decided
to become a physician. A successful businessman in

6/1S
1999

Detroit Jewish News

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