Interview with Elizabeth Hendley concerning her experiences as founder, owner, and operator of Miss Hendley's Shop in Denton, Texas (also known as "Miss Hendley's Dress Shop" and "Miss Hendley's Ready to Wear"). Hendley discusses her family background, her employment with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. in 1920, the financial reverses of her father's farms and ranches, the opening of a gift shop in Denton in 1924, Dallas suppliers, and the relocation of the gift shop near Texas Women's University. She also describes her merchandise, comments on Margo Jones, and shares her views on price markups, the expansion of gift merchandise, and her entry into the dress business. Hendley talks about the effects of the Depression in Denton, the relocation of the store in 1936, the assistance provided by the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the purchase of a building near North Texas State Teachers College in the 1940s, the competition and the close of her store near North Texas in 1979, and she also shares her views on customer preferences in clothing, the personnel hired for the stores, her civic activities, buying merchandise at markets worldwide, the competition from the Golden Triangle Mall, and the factors contributing to a successful business.
