DAYTON'S

Minneapolis-based 'Dayton's' was among the nation's leading department stores for nearly a century. Founded in 1902 by George Draper Dayton as Goodfellows (and later renamed Dayton Dry Goods), Dayton stores became synonymous with quality merchandise, superior service, fashion leadership, and community involvement. 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. Prior to changing its name to Marshall Field's in 2001, 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 Dayton's stores as Macy's.

Contents

Timeline

Former Dayton's locations

Interesting footnotes

The Macy's factor

References

Timeline

★ 1902: George Dayton opens Goodfellows

★ 1903: Name changed to Dayton Dry Goods

★ 1910: Name changes once again, to Dayton Company

★ 1956: Dayton Company opens Southdale Center, the world's first fully-enclosed two-level shopping center

★ 1962: Dayton Company opens first Target store in Roseville, Minnesota

★ 1969: Dayton's merged with J. L. Hudson Company, a dominant Michigan retailer with 21 stores. The combined firm became known as the Dayton Hudson Corporation.

★ 1978: The company acquires Mervyn's and became the 7th largest retailer in the United States.

★ 1984: Dayton-Hudson sells off its John A. Brown Division in Oklahoma, and its Diamond's division in Arizona to Dillard's to focus more on midwest expansion.


★ 1990: Marshall Field's was acquired by the Department Store Division of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation.

★ 2000: Dayton-Hudson Corporation changes name to Target Corporation

★ 2001: Much to the dismay of local shoppers in Minneapolis and Detroit, Dayton's and Hudson's were renamed with the more nationally known Marshall Field's nameplate. However product lines remained the same.

★ 2004: Target and May Department Stores announced the sale of the Marshall Field's department store group, including the 62 stores serving communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

★ 2005: Federated Department Stores merged with May Department Stores Company - combining Macy's and Marshall Field's and creating a new retail company with national scope and presence.

★ 2006: Marshall Field's stores in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit took the Macy's name, ending the run of Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field's as its own unique, upscale midwestern department store community.

Former Dayton's locations

City	Shopping center	Existed	Notes
Minneapolis, Minnesota	Downtown (Nicollet Mall)	1902–2001	Dayton's Flagship store
Rochester, Minnesota	Downtown	1954–1972
	Apache Mall	1972–2001
Edina, Minnesota	Southdale Center	1956–(1990)	Retained small portions of original store
		1990–2001	Replacement store
	Home Store (freestanding)	1978–2001
Saint Paul, Minnesota	Downtown	1963–2001
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota	Brookdale Center	1966–2001
Roseville, Minnesota	Rosedale Center	1969–1991
		1991–2001	Replacement store
	Home Store (freestanding)	1976–2001
Fargo, North Dakota	West Acres Shopping Center	1973–2001
Minnetonka, Minnesota	Ridgedale Center	1974–2001	Womens' and Children's only 1995–2001
		1995–2001	Mens' & Home store; in renovated Donaldson's/Carson Pirie Scott store
St. Cloud, Minnesota	Crossroads Center	1976–2001
Burnsville, Minnesota	Burnsville Center	1977–2001
Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Empire Mall	1978–2001
Grand Forks, North Dakota	Columbia Mall	1978–2001
La Crosse, Wisconsin	Valley View Mall	1980–2001
Bismarck, North Dakota	Kirkwood Mall	1985–2001
Appleton, Wisconsin	Fox River Mall	1991–2001
Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Oakwood Mall	1991–2001
Maplewood, Minnesota	Maplewood Mall	1996–2001	In renovated Powers/Donaldson's/Carson Pirie Scott store

Interesting footnotes

The stores received significant media exposure during the first season of ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970-77), as the opening credits featured the title character standing in front of the original Dayton's; the shot of her tossing her beret in the air was shot in front of the original Donaldson's department store in downtown Minneapolis (as referenced by the "Open Tonight" neon sign in the window of the store; this can be confirmed frame by frame). This moment was ranked by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as the second greatest moment in television. A bronze statue was erected on the corner in 2002.
Dayton's was the first department store to introduce the concept of a "mall" to the American shopper, opening Southdale, the nation's first enclosed shopping center, in October, 1956.
Target was introduced by Dayton's in 1962 as its discount store. Target remains and has grown into a large corporation that dominates upper-middle class discount retail.
Little known is that in Dayton's heyday, it competed on par with, or perhaps even above, stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. After changing its name to Marshall Field's, the respected retailer has been marketed as a fashion-forward, exclusive shopping experience for upper- to middle-income families in the Midwest.

The Macy's factor

The corporation's merger with Federated Department Stores will see a close consolidation of retail brands and markets, and will reduce competition in many Midwestern areas, as well as other markets nationwide that the May Company and Macy's in which there is an overlap.

References