Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Many visitors to Las Vegas through the years may have returned home with a fashionable item from one of Art Marshall’s retail stores.
Art Marshall
Marshall, who in the 1950s with brother-in-law Herb Rousso established the Marshall-Rousso retail clothing company that’s still prominent on the Strip today, died Monday, his family said.
He was 93.
“He loved Las Vegas,” his son, Todd Marshall, said Tuesday morning .
“Since he arrived in Las Vegas in 1955, he absolutely fell in love with Las Vegas and the people of Las Vegas and the opportunity to help Las Vegas grow.”
After arriving in Las Vegas from Cleveland, Marshall went to work for his father-in-law, Abe Saltzman, who owned the retail store Sara’s of Las Vegas, Todd Marshall said.
After Saltzman retired, Marshall and Rousso expanded the business with three more stores on the Strip — starting in 1964 at the Sahara, his son said. The retailer also has shops in many airports across the county.
“I lovingly call them the ‘Dynamic Duo,’ ” Todd Marshall said. “My father had a great sense of business. He was a great merchant and he knew what people wanted to buy. He was great at making connections and able to expand Marshall-Rousso in the early days of Las Vegas.”
Art Marshall operated under the handshake philosophy, his son recalled, saying “my father had a tremendous amount of integrity. He was one of the original handshake guys in that his word meant everything to him.”
Art Marshall served Nevada in several capacities, including spending 12 years on the state Gaming Commission through 2009. In the 1980s, he was on the board of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).
The impact he made during those three full terms on the Gaming Commission were some of his biggest accomplishments, his son said.
“He really, really loved the commission,” Todd Marshall said. “Interestingly enough, he loved it not only because he could be part of the growth of Las Vegas, but what he really liked about it was reinstating people’s licenses and giving them a second chance. He was a great believer in a second chance.”
Marshall additionally served as president of Temple Beth Sholom and the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, and is credited with being a driving force in the creation of the Nevada office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Marshall was preceded in death by his first wife, Jayn. He asked for her hand in marriage one week into their courtship, and they spent 56 years together as husband and wife. He was also was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Dana Marshall Bernstein.
Survivors include his children, Todd and Cari Marshall; two grandchildren, Jessica and Alexis Marshall; and his wife of eight years, Bonnie.
Services are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson.
