NEILSON’S DEPARTMENT STORE Still Going Strong

The floor layout is much the same as it was when I was in school, but the displays are bubbling with current fashions for both young ingenues and their more worldly parents. The ample cosmetic counter sits front and center with a tempting selection of products. I so wanted to sit down for a makeover. That would have to wait.

To the right, among men’s classic suits, crisp dress shirts, and campus wear, I spotted a table of merino wool pullover sweaters and made a note to pick one up before I left the store.

A young woman greeted me, “Hi, I’m Amanda Lewis Hyneman.” She was wearing a wool pullover with a longsleeved white tee peeking through—my kind of gal.

Today, William, his devoted wife Patty, and his three children, Goodloe Lewis, Lydia Lewis Myers, and Amanda Lewis Hyneman, maintain total ownership. But throughout the family iterations, Amanda and her father now run the show.

“I love the retail business. I guess it’s in my blood.” Amanda has had two great mentors in learning her trade. “For as long as I can remember, Dad has run the business from behind the scenes. He holds the reins. And I studied my Aunt Olivia for over twenty years as she worked the floor and managed the Ladies’ department.”

“But I also love the buying,” she continued. You have to predict your customers’ fashion whims and then calculate the inventory needs.” To me, it sounds like rolling the dice, but she’s obviously very good at the tasks.

“Lane keeps me in line,” she added as she pointed to the general manager, Lane Wilson. Lane took the position in 2014, providing freedom for Amanda and her father to continue the store’s growth and prosperity.

Lane jumped into the conversation at that point. “A business either succeeds or fails with tight inventory control.”

Amanda nodded her head in agreement.

By ULIE MABUS | The Oxford Eagle

I studied her sculpted cheekbones and bright green eyes as we walked back to the inter-sanctum of the store. Office ladies demurely spoke when we passed. The family’s patriarch, Mr.

After Amanda graduated from Ole Miss in 1994, she worked at Oak Hall, a premiere clothing store in Memphis, for several years. But Oxford was home, her Aunt Olivia was slowing down at the store, and the city was on fire with energy and unprecedented growth. Plus, her love and future husband, Brian Hyneman, had stayed in Oxford after he finished law school and was practicing at

I left the store, but the front doors caught my eye again. Neilson’s familiar logo of the palm fronds is etched in the glass. I sent Amanda a text asking about the historical importance of the logo. Her dad, William, answered the question, “We found it on some old store stationery from the 1920s.” It is another beautiful reminder of the Lewis family’s preserving history while blazing a trail in this extraordinary city.

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