The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 96
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
one community. In spite of these factors, it remains my impression, how-
ever, that our family's return to Jasper in the summer of 1933 was
prompted largely by that anonymous call to my father. Now we talked of
moving and of opening a Jasper business. This new store, "The Model,"
would be our family's last.
In the spring of 1933 Julian Lanier traveled to Jasper, Texas, and
leased a store building at 147 North Main Street, mid-block on the west
side of the courthouse square, then a prime location. This building,
which Julian Lanier purchased a few years later, was about the usual
size, thirty by ninety feet, and owned by J. M. Lazenby. By coincidence,
Julian's closest brother and former business partner, Linton Lanier, was
still in men's furnishings adjacent to, and on the north side of the
Lazenby building. This circumstance dictated that Julian, careful not to
compete with his brother, would carry women's wear only. These broth-
ers, who had shared so much in earlier years through partnerships,
training, and common experiences, were no doubt delighted to be
close to each other again. They would have adjacent businesses until
Julian's death.
The store transition from Jacksonville to Jasper was an orderly one.
True to his usual style, Lanier merged his two businesses by closing out
his merchandise himself in Jacksonville while establishing his Jasper
store, a process that continued into the summer of 1933. Fortunately,
the entire business adjustment was aided by the presence of relatives
and many longtime friends in Jasper and surrounding communities who
welcomed us back. To facilitate this transition, Julian employed his half
brother, Thad Lanier, and his wife, Ethel, as interim managers.
By the end of the first year in his Jasper business, "The Model," my
father had converted a small section in the rear of the building into a
beauty shop that was rented out to Mrs. Riley Roebuck, owner and man-
ager. In about 1935 Mrs. Roebuck sold to Mrs. Giby (Boots) Hancock,
who continued this operation for two years, after which the shop's floor
space was needed for shoes and storage and the shop was terminated. As
a teenager at the time, I failed to appreciate the traffic advantage of this
beauty shop arrangement to my father's business. In retrospect, however,
I know that it must have contributed significantly to The Model's sales.
This conclusion is the more obvious from the fact that the beauty shop
customers' only access to service was through The Model's front door,
and then they had to traverse the store's length to the shop in the rear.
The Model soon introduced a number of innovations, several of
which are documented via the feature stories of Nida Aiden Marshall,
professional journalist and longtime resident of Jasper, Texas. Drawing
on her personal memories of The Model from its founding in 1933,July
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/124/?rotate=270: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.