Target Corporation
Target Corporation
American Business History
SS 304-03
Target Corporation is a growth company focused exclusively on general merchandise retailing. Their principal operating strategy is to provide exceptional value to American consumers through multiple retail formats ranging from upscale discount and moderate-priced to full-service department stores. (Target Corporation Company, n.d.).
Its founder George D Dayton, a banker and real estate investor became a partner in Goodfellows Dry Goods Company, the fourth largest department store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following year desiring greater involvement, Dayton takes sole ownership of the store and becomes the first President of the newly named Dayton Dry Goods Company. (Through the Years, n.d.). In 1881, native New Yorker George D. Dayton decides to explore the growing Midwest markets. After several years in banking and real estate, Dayton decides Minneapolis offers the strongest opportunities for growth. He purchased land in Nicolett Avenue and formed the Dayton Dry Goods Company, today known as Target Corporation. (Through the Years, n.d.).
Eventually the store would expand to fill the six-story building. Dayton, with no previous experience in the retail trade, wielded tight control of the company until his death in 1938. His principles of thrift and sobriety and his connections as a banker, enabled the company to grow. As long as he was at the helm, the store was run as a family enterprise. Every Christmas Eve he would hand out candy to each employee of the store. Obsessed with punctuality, he was known to lock the doors at the onset of a meeting, forcing latecomers to wait and apologize to him in person afterwards. The store was run on strict Presbyterian guidelines: no liquor was sold, the store was closed on Sunday, no business travel or advertising was permitted on the Sabbath, and Dayton Company refused to advertise in a newspaper that sponsored liquor ads. (Target Corporation Company, n.d.).
American Business History
SS 304-03
Target Corporation is a growth company focused exclusively on general merchandise retailing. Their principal operating strategy is to provide exceptional value to American consumers through multiple retail formats ranging from upscale discount and moderate-priced to full-service department stores. (Target Corporation Company, n.d.).
Its founder George D Dayton, a banker and real estate investor became a partner in Goodfellows Dry Goods Company, the fourth largest department store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following year desiring greater involvement, Dayton takes sole ownership of the store and becomes the first President of the newly named Dayton Dry Goods Company. (Through the Years, n.d.). In 1881, native New Yorker George D. Dayton decides to explore the growing Midwest markets. After several years in banking and real estate, Dayton decides Minneapolis offers the strongest opportunities for growth. He purchased land in Nicolett Avenue and formed the Dayton Dry Goods Company, today known as Target Corporation. (Through the Years, n.d.).
Eventually the store would expand to fill the six-story building. Dayton, with no previous experience in the retail trade, wielded tight control of the company until his death in 1938. His principles of thrift and sobriety and his connections as a banker, enabled the company to grow. As long as he was at the helm, the store was run as a family enterprise. Every Christmas Eve he would hand out candy to each employee of the store. Obsessed with punctuality, he was known to lock the doors at the onset of a meeting, forcing latecomers to wait and apologize to him in person afterwards. The store was run on strict Presbyterian guidelines: no liquor was sold, the store was closed on Sunday, no business travel or advertising was permitted on the Sabbath, and Dayton Company refused to advertise in a newspaper that sponsored liquor ads. (Target Corporation Company, n.d.).
References: Barwise, P., & Meehan, S. (2004, August 16). Target cheap chic strategy .Harvard Business School, Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4319.html Marshall Field & Company. Retrieved from http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/marshall_fields.html “Reference for Business”. History of Mervin 's California Company Profile. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jun 2010. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/44/Mervyn-s-California.html Schlosser, J. (2004). HOW TARGET DOES IT. Fortune, 150(8), 100-112. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. Target corporation company history. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Target-Corporation-Company-History.html Through the Years. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031697