The Store, Frederick Wiseman

Featured on The Wonderlyst #118

After watching the documentary The Store for the first time, I felt the same way as I did upon seeing Sherman’s March: how on earth did I miss this gem? Directed by the filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, The Store is about the main Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas. It is SO good, people! Wiseman takes the superficial subject matter and studies it from every angle: manager meetings, advertising strategies, sales techniques in the fur and jewelry departments, the inner workings of the beauty parlor and restaurant, and more. It sounds banal, but it is perfectly entertaining. I was thoroughly immersed in 118 minutes of early 80s eye candy. Watch The Store for free on Kanopy, through your local public library.