(Alive To Die?!) Dayton’s The Complete Story - S02E29

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.

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 it eventually absorbed both Dayton's and Hudson's in 2000 and 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 2006, Marshall Field's was purchased by 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.

#retail
#deparmentstore
#nostalgia