Dayton's
Encyclopedia
Minneapolis-based Dayton's was among the leading department store
s in the United States for nearly a century after its founding in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. In 1969, the Detroit-based J.L. Hudson Company merged with the Dayton Corporation to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, adding 21 Michigan-based stores to the total. In 1990, the department store division of Dayton–Hudson (now Target Corporation) acquired Chicago-based Marshall Field's
. Both Dayton's and Hudson's retained their individual store names until 2001, when they were united under the Marshall Field's nameplate. Prior to changing its name to Marshall Field's, Dayton's stores numbered 19, serving communities throughout the upper Midwest.
Dayton's was the parent of Target
, opening the first Target in 1962 as the discount store version of Dayton's. Target quickly grew to become the majority of the company's business. In 2000, Dayton–Hudson was renamed Target Corporation. In 2004, Target finally divested their department store division to focus on discount retailing. May Company
purchased the stores prior to its own acquisition by Federated Department Stores, which rebranded all the Marshall Field's stores as Macy's
. Many Minnesotans have resisted the double name change, and continue to refer to "Dayton's" when speaking of the old stores in Southdale
and Rosedale Center
and Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.
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Dayton's has roots in R.S. Goodfellow & Company, a dry goods
business founded as Goodfellow and Eastman in 1878. George Draper Dayton constructed a six-story building at Nicollet Avenue
and Seventh Street in 1902 and convinced Goodfellow, then the fourth-largest department store in Minneapolis, to become the tenant. The Goodfellow store opened June 24, 1902, and Reuben Simon Goodfellow retired shortly thereafter, selling his interest to Dayton, who financed and partnered with George Loudon and J.B. Mosher. By 1903, Dayton had bought out both partners and renamed the store Dayton's Dry Goods Company, which he ran with his son, Draper Dayton. Between 1966 and 1986, Dayton's owned the B. Dalton
bookstore chain.
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s in the United States for nearly a century after its founding in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. In 1969, the Detroit-based J.L. Hudson Company merged with the Dayton Corporation to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, adding 21 Michigan-based stores to the total. In 1990, the department store division of Dayton–Hudson (now Target Corporation) acquired Chicago-based Marshall Field's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
. Both Dayton's and Hudson's retained their individual store names until 2001, when they were united under the Marshall Field's nameplate. Prior to changing its name to Marshall Field's, Dayton's stores numbered 19, serving communities throughout the upper Midwest.
Dayton's was the parent of Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
, opening the first Target in 1962 as the discount store version of Dayton's. Target quickly grew to become the majority of the company's business. In 2000, Dayton–Hudson was renamed Target Corporation. In 2004, Target finally divested their department store division to focus on discount retailing. May Company
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...
purchased the stores prior to its own acquisition by Federated Department Stores, which rebranded all the Marshall Field's stores as Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
. Many Minnesotans have resisted the double name change, and continue to refer to "Dayton's" when speaking of the old stores in Southdale
Southdale Center
Southdale Center, commonly known as just Southdale, is a shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, which opened in 1956. It is the United States' oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled mall...
and Rosedale Center
Rosedale Center
Rosedale Center, commonly known just as Rosedale, is a shopping center in Roseville, Minnesota. The mall is considered a regional powerhouse as a shopping destination; surrounded by suburbs and close to major highways, it serves a trade area population almost 2 million people, and boasts 12...
and Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.
History
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
business founded as Goodfellow and Eastman in 1878. George Draper Dayton constructed a six-story building at Nicollet Avenue
Nicollet Avenue
Nicollet Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and three of its suburbs. It passes through a number of locally well-known neighborhoods and districts, notably Eat Street in south Minneapolis and the traffic-restricted Nicollet Mall in the city's downtown.It began as a military road...
and Seventh Street in 1902 and convinced Goodfellow, then the fourth-largest department store in Minneapolis, to become the tenant. The Goodfellow store opened June 24, 1902, and Reuben Simon Goodfellow retired shortly thereafter, selling his interest to Dayton, who financed and partnered with George Loudon and J.B. Mosher. By 1903, Dayton had bought out both partners and renamed the store Dayton's Dry Goods Company, which he ran with his son, Draper Dayton. Between 1966 and 1986, Dayton's owned the B. Dalton
B. Dalton
B. Dalton Bookseller was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by the Dayton's department store chain. Located primarily in shopping malls, B. Dalton competed primarily with Waldenbooks, and operated 798 stores at its peak...
bookstore chain.
Timeline
- 1910: Name changes once again, to Dayton Company.
- 1949: Dayton's accepts several CootieCootie (game)The Game of Cootie is a children's roll-and-move tabletop game for two to four players. The object is to be the first to build a three dimensional bug-like object called a "cootie" from a variety of plastic body parts. Created by William Schaper in 1948, the game was launched in 1949 and sold...
games on consignment from William "Herb" Schaper, a Milwaukee postman, fisherman, and toy maker. The game becomes a mega-hit with children and an icon of the baby boomer era. - 1956: Dayton Company opens Southdale CenterSouthdale CenterSouthdale Center, commonly known as just Southdale, is a shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, which opened in 1956. It is the United States' oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled mall...
in Edina, MinnesotaEdina, MinnesotaEdina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, the world's first fully enclosed two-level shopping center. - 1962: Dayton's opens first TargetTarget CorporationTarget Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
store in Roseville, MinnesotaRoseville, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 33,690 people, 14,598 households, and 8,598 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,543.9 people per square mile . There were 14,917 housing units at an average density of 1,126.4 per square mile... - 1963: Dayton's opens new store in downtown St. Paul as part of the city's "urban renewal" project.
- 1966: Dayton's opens first B. Dalton Bookseller in Edina, MinnesotaEdina, MinnesotaEdina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
- 1969: Dayton's acquires J. L. Hudson Company, a dominant Michigan retailer with 21 stores. The combined firm is known as the Dayton–Hudson Corporation.
- 1978: The company acquires Mervyn's and becomes the 7th largest retailer in the United States.
- 1984: Dayton–Hudson sells off its John A. Brown Division in Oklahoma, and its Diamond'sDiamond'sDiamond's was a department store based in Phoenix, Arizona.Originally named The Boston Store, it was founded in 1897 by Nathan and Issac Diamond, Jewish immigrants who had earlier begun a dry-goods mercantile in El Paso. Consisting of one store in downtown Phoenix, it was renamed Diamond's in 1947...
division in Arizona to Dillard'sDillard'sDillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...
to focus more on midwest expansion. - 1990: Marshall Field'sMarshall Field'sMarshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
is acquired by the Department Store Division of the Dayton–Hudson Corporation. - 2000: Dayton–Hudson Corporation changes name to Target CorporationTarget CorporationTarget Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
- 2001: Much to the dismay of shoppers in Minneapolis/Saint Paul and Detroit, Dayton's and Hudson's are rebranded with the Marshall Field's nameplate, which has a higher national profile. Most product lines remain the same.
- 2004: Target and May Department StoresMay Department StoresThe May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...
announce the sale of the Marshall Field's department store group, including the 62 stores serving communities in IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, North DakotaNorth DakotaNorth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. Target sells off its Mervyns stores to a private investment fund. (Mervyns goes bankrupt in 2008.) - 2005: Marshall Field'sMarshall Field'sMarshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
stores in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Detroit take the Macy'sMacy'sMacy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
name, ending the run of Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field'sMarshall Field'sMarshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
as its own unique, upscale midwestern department store community.
Further reading
- Atwater, Isaac (1893). History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Munsell.
- Rowley, Laura (2003). On Target. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0471250678