Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1512213
Peacock Alley turns 50 with a second generation at the helm. P eacock Alley is celebrating a remarkable 50 years in business by launching a new flagship showroom in Uptown, set to open in February. The family- owned linens brand is relocating its longtime Dallas Design District showroom to a renovated circa-1900 house on Fairmount Street. "The new showroom will give us the opportunity to show off all the different ways a room can be decorated — from a master to a guest room," says Jason Needleman, who co-owns Peacock Alley with his brother Josh Needleman and their mother, Mary Ella Gabler, who founded the company in 1973. The brothers took over the daily operations several years ago, allowing Gabler to focus on product development. A new generation is at the helm, but P e a c o c k A l l e y remains true to its roots. Linens and bedding are still woven at mills in Italy and Portugal, and artisans in their Dallas workroom still hand-cut, sew, a n d e m b r o i d e r many of its pieces. Gabler's love of handmade textiles began in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where she grew up with antique quilts and learned to sew; she also helped care for the family's linens, which were hand- washed and pressed with an old mangle. In the 1960s, her pioneer spirit led her to New York City, where she worked as one of the first women stockbrokers on Wall Street, turning heads as she zipped around Manhattan in a skirt and pearls on her Honda 50 scooter. By the late '60s she was married and living in Dallas. Landing a job proved to be a challenge, however, as the city's male-dominated financial powers balked at the idea of a scooter-riding female stockbroker. She sold the Honda and instead picked up a needle and thread, making pillows for her new home as a hobby. While hosting a dinner party, a patchwork boudoir pillow she had made caught the eye of a buyer for Neiman Marcus. He convinced Gabler to make 250 pillows to be sold at the store's 1971 Fortnight celebration — and, Bedtime Story By Rebecca Sherman. Josh Needleman restored a vintage Airstream trailer to carry Peacock Alley linens on cross-country sales trips. Mary Ella Gabler riding her Honda 50 motor scooter in Manhattan, 1964