Ira Neimark (December 12, 1921 – April 18, 2019) was an American author, lecturer, and retail executive who served as Chairman and CEO of Bergdorf Goodman from 1975 to 1992. His reintroduction of French haute couture to New York with Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, and Christian Dior sparked a period of growth for Bergdorf Goodman, which went from $18 million in sales in 1975 to $250 million in sales by 1992. During his tenure, he expanded the women's store and in 1991, he opened the Bergdorf Goodman Men's Store across the street from the primary location in New York. Early life Neimark was born December 12, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York and was the son of attorney Eugene G. Neimark and Lillian (Braude) Neimark. After his father's death, the 16-year-old Neimark sought employment in late 1938. He was hired by Bonwit Teller for "a Christmas job as a page[boy] in the store's 721 Club for men, a shop offering a sampling of the store's best items." After the Christmas season of 1938, he continued to work for Bonwit Teller as a doorboy, greeting customers as they entered the store. In 1940, he was promoted to office boy by the store president, and then to the position of stock boy in 1941. Neimark attended Erasmus Hall in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, but did not receive his diploma until after the end of World War II, in 1945. His graduation was delayed due to working and to enlisting in 1942 in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet. He served in Saipan with the 20th Air Force, 498 squadron. Prior to his enlistment, he took evening classes in 1941 and 1942 at Columbia Business School. (Columbia lists him an alumnus, despite the fact that he did not earn a degree, and invited him back as an adjunct professor during 1983 and 1984; he was also a guest lecturer from 2009 to 2014.) Retail career After his service in WWII, Neimark returned to Bonwit Teller, serving as manager of Merchandise Control, and then assistant to the president. After promotion to blouse buyer at the luxury department store, he then moved to McCreery's in New York in 1950. In 1951, he was hired by Gladdings in Providence, Rhode Island, as divisional merchandise manager for which he was paid $9,000 a year. In 1959, he moved to the prestigious G.