Dayton's
Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although it was regionally known as a high-quality shopping destination, Dayton's is best remembered for starting the discount shopping chain Target. The company was also instrumental in the history of shopping malls; opening the first indoor shopping mall in the United States, Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, in 1956.
Logo in 1974, featuring "amaranth" mark used from 1968 to 1989 | |
| Industry | Department store |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 24, 1902 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Founder | George Draper Dayton |
| Defunct | January 12, 2001 |
| Fate | Locations rebranded as Marshall Field's in 2001 Downtown Flagship redeveloped as The Dayton's Project in 2017 |
| Successor | Marshall Field's (2001–2006) Macy's (2006-present) |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Owner | The Dayton Family (until 1969) |
| Parent | Dayton-Hudson Corporation (later Target Corporation) (after 1969) |
| Subsidiaries | Target |
In 1969, Dayton's merged with Michigan department store chain Hudson's to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. The Target division of the company eventually grew so large that in 2000 the corporation was renamed the Target Corporation. Target Corporation had acquired Chicago-based Marshall Field's in 1990 and rebranded Dayton's stores as Marshall Field's stores in 2001 in an effort to focus more on discount retailing. In 2004, Marshall Field's was purchased by May Department Stores, which subsequently merged in 2005 with Macy's, turning the remaining Marshall Field's stores into Macy's department stores.
For most of the company's history, it was owned and operated by the Dayton family. Dayton's mark on Minnesota remains with three Twin Cities shopping malls started by Dayton's, Southdale, Rosedale, Ridgedale, and the original flagship location still standing.