Today’s Joseph stores in Memphis and Houston are among the top four or five retail operations in the U.S., outside of the Neiman Marcus group and Saks, in sales of designer shoes and handbags, as well as jewelry, apparel and cosmetics. Their success stems directly from two great retail traditions: The company established by the brothers Philip and Henry Wexner when they leased their first shoe department in 1930 at Levy’s in downtown Memphis; and Joseph, a Chicago fashion institution dating to the early 1940s.