Dillard's
Encyclopedia
Dillard'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
, Alabama
, Georgia
, Tennessee
, Oklahoma
, Mississippi
, Louisiana
, Nebraska
, New Mexico
, Nevada
, Utah
, North Carolina
, Virginia
, Idaho
, South Carolina
, Kentucky
, Indiana
, Ohio
, and Illinois
. Dillard's also maintains a minor footprint in California
, and Montana
.
; its corporate headquarters remain located in the eastern edge of Little Rock
's Riverdale
area, and many of its executives and directors are members of the Dillard family.
initially as the minority partner in Wooten & Dillard. In 1956, Dillard led an investment group that acquired the Mayer & Schmidt store in Tyler, Texas
. This store eventually took on the name "Dillard's Mayer & Schmidt" until 1974, when it was replaced with a mall-based location south of downtown Tyler.
In 1960, Dillard acquired and turned around the failing Brown-Dunkin store in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. The success of this turnaround was followed in late 1963 by acquiring the Joseph Pfeifer store in Little Rock, Arkansas
, and in early 1964 acquiring the other main store in Little Rock, Gus Blass Co. Dillard used this as an opportunity to relocate his headquarters to Little Rock. In 1969, Dillard and his investors took Dillard Department Stores, Inc., public on the American Stock Exchange
.
Thereafter, the chain grew rapidly as an anchor in suburban shopping mall
s, and took advantage of market conditions to acquire smaller chains as well as its ability to turn around locations that other companies could not operate profitably.
(the stores were rebadged as Dillard's in 1972). In 1974 five Leonard's stores were acquired in Fort Worth, Texas
, as well as a commitment to open a new downtown Fort Worth store at the Tandy Center (site of the original Leonard's). Also in 1974, the former Brown-Dunkin, Blass, Pfeifer and Mayer & Schmidt stores were fully renamed Dillard's.
The 1980s brought the purchase of many local chains. In 1982, Dillard's leased three units of the defunct Lowenstein's chain in Memphis, Tennessee
. In early 1984, Dillard’s acquired 12 Stix, Baer & Fuller stores in St. Louis
and Kansas City
from Associated Dry Goods Corp., while in fall 1984 two department store divisions were purchased from Dayton Hudson: Diamond's
and John A. Brown
, with locations in Arizona
, Nevada
and Oklahoma
. Twelve stores in Kansas and Missouri belonging to R. H. Macy & Co.
's Midwest Division, which was later dissolved in 2006, were acquired in early 1986, while the three-unit Hemphill-Wells company in West Texas was purchased in the summer.
In 1987, Dillard's purchased 26 of Joske's
27 stores in Texas and Arizona as well as the four unit Cain-Sloan
chain in Nashville, Tennessee
from Allied Stores Corp. This deal gave Dillard's two major anchor locations at several malls in Texas and Arizona with many of the second locations being converted to a separate, expanded home and men's stores, a format that Dillard's utilized greatly, both to grow its store size cost effectively and to prevent competitors from gaining valuable real estate. Additionally the Joske's acquisition gave Dillard's entry into the Houston market. In 1988, Dillard's purchased the three-unit Miller & Paine chain in Lincoln, Nebraska
, as well as more significantly, a half-interest and operational control of The Higbee Co.
, based in Cleveland, Ohio
with partner Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. D. H. Holmes
Co., Ltd., of New Orleans, was purchased in 1989, bringing 18 units primarily in Louisiana, as well two former Diamond's
units in Tucson, Arizona
.
chain of 23 stores in Florida, North Carolina
and South Carolina
was acquired from BATUS in 1990. This was followed by the acquisition of eight Florida Gulf Coast stores from Maison Blanche
Co. in 1991 (which had acquired them as Robinsons of Florida only a few years before). In 1992, the remaining interest in the Higbee's stores were acquired, as well as five Ohio stores from Horne's
(as part of a legal settlement, Dillard's having canceled a 1988 deal to acquire the chain). Also in 1992, three stores from the Hess's
chain liquidation (five other former Hess's were acquired in 1994), two E.M. Scarbrough's locations in Austin, Texas
, two former Thalhimer's
in South Carolina and Tennessee, a former Lord & Taylor
store in Memphis, Tennessee
and three former Belk-Lindsey stores in Florida were acquired by Dillard's. Except for two Belk of Columbia stores acquired in 1995, acquisitions were eschewed for several years until in early 1997 ten buildings in Florida were acquired from Mervyns, seven southern Virginia stores were purchased from Proffitt's
(which had acquired them from Hess's in 1993), and the three suburban Macy's
stores in Houston, Texas
were absorbed.
Co., Inc. in 1998. The purchase of this Fairfield, Ohio-based department store company brought several chains, including Bacon's
, Castner Knott
, de Lendrecie's, Gayfers
, Glass Block, Hennessy's
, J.B. White, Joslins
, Lion Store
, Maison Blanche
, McAlpin's
, Root's and The Jones Store
. Dillard's sold 26 stores of the former Mercantile Stores to May Department Stores
Co. and Saks Incorporated
and traded an additional seven stores to Belk
for nine of theirs in southern Virginia and Chattanooga, Tennessee
. Overall this deal enabled Dillard's to enhance its position in several markets in the South, Midwest and Mountain States.
in Illinois and Iowa, and four locations from ZCMI in Utah and Idaho were acquired in 2001.
In 2004, Dillard's store credit card operation, operated as Dillard's National Bank, was sold to GE Money Bank. Customers can now be issued Dillard's/American Express cards as well the traditional Dillard's store charge. These cards can be used at any store that accepts the American Express
brand.
In 2008, Dillard's closed their travel agency, Dillard's Travel, alongside all in-store locations due to economic conditions. Dillard's Travel previously operated in 43 of the 318 stores..
, an enclosed super-regional mall in Scottsdale, Arizona
. Within the Dallas area, the chain has a 299000 square feet (27,778 m²) western flagship store at the upscale Northpark Center
. Its flagship store in the East Coast region, at 260000 square feet (24,154.8 m²), is located in the upscale MacArthur Center
in downtown Norfolk, Virginia
. The home store for the chain is in Little Rock; the divided store is located in the trend-conscious Park Plaza Mall
, one of the city's oldest continuously operating shopping centers in its midtown section.
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...
chain in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
; with a major presence in other states including Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana 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...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio 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...
, and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois 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,...
. Dillard's also maintains a minor footprint in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
History
Dillard's is the outgrowth of a department store founded in 1938 by William T. DillardWilliam T. Dillard
William Thomas Dillard, was the founder of the Dillard's Department Store chain.William T. Dillard was born on 2 September 1914 in Mineral Springs, Howard County, Arkansas. His parents Thomas and Hattie ran a country store. Dillard found employment with Sears & Roebuck Company where he gained...
; its corporate headquarters remain located in the eastern edge of Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
's Riverdale
Riverdale, Little Rock, Arkansas
Located adjacent to the Arkansas River, Riverdale is a neighborhood of Little Rock, Arkansas situated in the north-central area of the city. It lies to the northeast and at a lower elevation from Pulaski Heights, and to the northwest of downtown....
area, and many of its executives and directors are members of the Dillard family.
Beginnings
Dillard sold the Nashville store to develop a larger one in Texarkana, TexasTexarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
initially as the minority partner in Wooten & Dillard. In 1956, Dillard led an investment group that acquired the Mayer & Schmidt store in Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
. This store eventually took on the name "Dillard's Mayer & Schmidt" until 1974, when it was replaced with a mall-based location south of downtown Tyler.
In 1960, Dillard acquired and turned around the failing Brown-Dunkin store in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. The success of this turnaround was followed in late 1963 by acquiring the Joseph Pfeifer store in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, and in early 1964 acquiring the other main store in Little Rock, Gus Blass Co. Dillard used this as an opportunity to relocate his headquarters to Little Rock. In 1969, Dillard and his investors took Dillard Department Stores, Inc., public on the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
.
Thereafter, the chain grew rapidly as an anchor in suburban shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s, and took advantage of market conditions to acquire smaller chains as well as its ability to turn around locations that other companies could not operate profitably.
Acquisitions & growth
Growth of the Dillard's chain came quickly in the 1970s, mainly through expanding into new malls being built in smaller cities in Texas. In 1971 five Texas units were acquired from Fedway, a division of Federated Department StoresFederated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
(the stores were rebadged as Dillard's in 1972). In 1974 five Leonard's stores were acquired in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, as well as a commitment to open a new downtown Fort Worth store at the Tandy Center (site of the original Leonard's). Also in 1974, the former Brown-Dunkin, Blass, Pfeifer and Mayer & Schmidt stores were fully renamed Dillard's.
The 1980s brought the purchase of many local chains. In 1982, Dillard's leased three units of the defunct Lowenstein's chain in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. In early 1984, Dillard’s acquired 12 Stix, Baer & Fuller stores in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
and Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
from Associated Dry Goods Corp., while in fall 1984 two department store divisions were purchased from Dayton Hudson: Diamond's
Diamond's
Diamond'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...
and John A. Brown
John A. Brown (department store)
John A. Brown was an Oklahoma-based department store chain. The department store had its start in 1915, when the Rorabaugh Company acquired Brock's Dry Goods in Oklahoma City, and soon changed its name to Rorabaugh-Brown Dry Goods Co. John A. Brown was acquired by the Dayton Hudson Corporation in...
, with locations in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Twelve stores in Kansas and Missouri belonging to R. H. Macy & Co.
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...
's Midwest Division, which was later dissolved in 2006, were acquired in early 1986, while the three-unit Hemphill-Wells company in West Texas was purchased in the summer.
In 1987, Dillard's purchased 26 of Joske's
Joske's
Joske's, founded by German immigrant Julius Joske in 1867, was a department store chain originally based in San Antonio, Texas. In December 1928, Hahn Department Stores acquired the company along with the Titche-Goettinger department store of Dallas, and three years later Hahn became part of Allied...
27 stores in Texas and Arizona as well as the four unit Cain-Sloan
Cain-Sloan
Cain-Sloan Co. Inc. was a department store chain based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Paul Lowe Sloan, Pat Cain and John E. Cain founded Cain-Sloan in Nashville in 1903. The company merged with Allied Stores Corp. of New York in 1955 and remained under its umbrella before being sold to,...
chain in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
from Allied Stores Corp. This deal gave Dillard's two major anchor locations at several malls in Texas and Arizona with many of the second locations being converted to a separate, expanded home and men's stores, a format that Dillard's utilized greatly, both to grow its store size cost effectively and to prevent competitors from gaining valuable real estate. Additionally the Joske's acquisition gave Dillard's entry into the Houston market. In 1988, Dillard's purchased the three-unit Miller & Paine chain in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, as well as more significantly, a half-interest and operational control of The Higbee Co.
Higbee's
Higbee's was a department store founded 1860 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1992, Higbee's stores were re-branded as part of Dillard's.-History:Higbee's was founded by Edwin Converse Higbee and John G. Hower on September 10, 1860 as Higbee & Hower Dry Goods. The first day of business saw $100 in sales. ...
, based in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
with partner Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. D. H. Holmes
D. H. Holmes
D. H. Holmes was a New Orleans department store and later a New Orleans based chain of department stores. The company was founded in 1842 by Daniel Henry Holmes, after whom it is named. In 1849 he moved his headquarters to Canal Street....
Co., Ltd., of New Orleans, was purchased in 1989, bringing 18 units primarily in Louisiana, as well two former Diamond's
Diamond's
Diamond'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...
units in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
.
1990s acquisitions
The Ivey'sIvey's
Ivey's , a former department store chain, was acquired by Dillard's, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin Ivey.-History:...
chain of 23 stores in Florida, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
was acquired from BATUS in 1990. This was followed by the acquisition of eight Florida Gulf Coast stores from Maison Blanche
Maison Blanche
.Maison Blanche was a department store in New Orleans and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany....
Co. in 1991 (which had acquired them as Robinsons of Florida only a few years before). In 1992, the remaining interest in the Higbee's stores were acquired, as well as five Ohio stores from Horne's
Horne's
The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an iconic, regional department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849 but due to its regional presence in the country, it...
(as part of a legal settlement, Dillard's having canceled a 1988 deal to acquire the chain). Also in 1992, three stores from the Hess's
Hess's
Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States.- History :The department store known as Hess Brothers was founded on February 19, 1897, by Charles and Max Hess. Max Hess came to Allentown in 1896 on a business trip and envisioned a...
chain liquidation (five other former Hess's were acquired in 1994), two E.M. Scarbrough's locations in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, two former Thalhimer's
Thalhimer's
Thalhimers was a department store in the Southern United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the venerable chain at its peak operated dozens of stores in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and one store in Memphis, Tennessee....
in South Carolina and Tennessee, a former Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
store in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and three former Belk-Lindsey stores in Florida were acquired by Dillard's. Except for two Belk of Columbia stores acquired in 1995, acquisitions were eschewed for several years until in early 1997 ten buildings in Florida were acquired from Mervyns, seven southern Virginia stores were purchased from Proffitt's
Proffitt's
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks Incorporated.-Beginnings:...
(which had acquired them from Hess's in 1993), and the three suburban 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...
stores in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
were absorbed.
Acquisition of Mercantile
The deal-making culminated with the purchase of Mercantile StoresMercantile Stores
Mercantile Stores Company Inc. until 1998, was a traditional department store retailer operating 102 fashion apparel stores and 16 home fashion stores in 17 states. The stores were operated under 13 different nameplates and varied in size, with the average store approximating . Store names...
Co., Inc. in 1998. The purchase of this Fairfield, Ohio-based department store company brought several chains, including Bacon's
Bacon's
Bacon's was a chain of department stores based in Louisville, Kentucky.Jeremiah Bacon opened a store called Bacon's Dry Goods in 1845 on Market Street near Hancock Street. In 1876 he moved into a structure four times larger than the original. In 1901, Bacon's opened a location on Fourth and Market...
, Castner Knott
Castner Knott
Castner Knott Company was a Nashville, Tennessee-based regional department store chain. The chain was in business for a century from 1898 to 1998, in its later years as a division of Mercantile Stores Company....
, de Lendrecie's, Gayfers
Gayfers
Gayfers was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Most stores were located in the Southeast. The chain became part of Dillard's in 1998.-History:...
, Glass Block, Hennessy's
Hennessy's
Hennessy's was an American department store owned by Mercantile Stores and was headquartered in Billings, Montana. When Mercantile Stores was acquired by Dillard's in 1998 the 100 year old name was retired in favor for Dillard's.-History:...
, J.B. White, Joslins
Joslins
Joslins Department Store began as J. Joslins Dry Goods Store founded by John Jay Joslin in 1873; It was a direct competitor to The Denver Dry Goods Company which commenced operations in 1888. The Joslins building is a landmark in Denver, Colorado and is currently a Courtyard by Marriott...
, Lion Store
Lion Store
The Lion Store is a defunct retailer and department store chain in the city of Toledo, Ohio. The stores were bought by Mercantile Stores and were eventually sold to Dillard's.-History:...
, Maison Blanche
Maison Blanche
.Maison Blanche was a department store in New Orleans and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany....
, McAlpin's
McAlpin's
McAlpin's was a Cincinnati-based department store founded in 1852 as Ellis, McAlpin & Co. McAlpin's opened their landmark downtown location on Fourth Street in 1880. In 1954, McAlpin's became the first Cincinnati department store to open a suburban site, in the Western Hills Shopping Center.Two...
, Root's and The Jones Store
The Jones Store
The Jones Store Company was an American chain of department stores located in the Kansas City area formerly operated by Mercantile Stores Company and the St. Louis, Missouri-based May Co.-History:...
. Dillard's sold 26 stores of the former Mercantile Stores to May Department Stores
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...
Co. and Saks Incorporated
Saks Incorporated
Saks Incorporated , founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1998, is headquartered in New York City, New York, and is a Fortune 1000 operator of high-end department stores in the United States under the nameplate Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks evolved from Proffitt's Inc. after Proffitt's changed its name in...
and traded an additional seven stores to Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
for nine of theirs in southern Virginia and Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
. Overall this deal enabled Dillard's to enhance its position in several markets in the South, Midwest and Mountain States.
Recent events
After the acquisition of Mercantile, Dillard's ceased expanding through acquisitions, although eight locations of the defunct Montgomery WardMontgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
in Illinois and Iowa, and four locations from ZCMI in Utah and Idaho were acquired in 2001.
In 2004, Dillard's store credit card operation, operated as Dillard's National Bank, was sold to GE Money Bank. Customers can now be issued Dillard's/American Express cards as well the traditional Dillard's store charge. These cards can be used at any store that accepts the American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
brand.
In 2008, Dillard's closed their travel agency, Dillard's Travel, alongside all in-store locations due to economic conditions. Dillard's Travel previously operated in 43 of the 318 stores..
Current operations
The chain continues to expand and has recently added stores in non-traditional mall shopping centers. Currently, the largest Dillard's store at 365,000 square feet (33,000 m²) is located at Scottsdale Fashion SquareScottsdale Fashion Square
Scottsdale Fashion Square is the largest shopping mall in Arizona and the American Southwest, with approximately 2 million square feet of retail space, and is among the top 30 largest malls in the country. It is one of the top 10 most profitable malls in the country with over $740 sales per square...
, an enclosed super-regional mall in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
. Within the Dallas area, the chain has a 299000 square feet (27,778 m²) western flagship store at the upscale Northpark Center
NorthPark Center
NorthPark Center is an upscale shopping mall located in Dallas, Texas . The mall is located at the intersection of Loop 12 and US 75 . The center has over 235 stores and restaurants. NorthPark is the first shopping center featured on Vogue Magazine...
. Its flagship store in the East Coast region, at 260000 square feet (24,154.8 m²), is located in the upscale MacArthur Center
MacArthur Center
The MacArthur Center is a shopping center of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is majority-owned and operated by the Taubman Company.-Mall Highlights:...
in downtown Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. The home store for the chain is in Little Rock; the divided store is located in the trend-conscious Park Plaza Mall
Park Plaza Mall
Park Plaza is an upscale shopping center located in midtown Little Rock, Arkansas. Opened as an open-air shopping center in 1959, Park Plaza would eventually be joined in the area eight years later by University Mall....
, one of the city's oldest continuously operating shopping centers in its midtown section.