Who Owns Target Stores?

Target Stores, owned by the Dayton Corporation, started back in 1903 as Dayton Dry Goods Company, a company that started in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It grew over the years and changed its name to the Dayton Company in 1911. It also acquired a Portland Oregon company named Lipmans Department Store in the 1950s. By 1956, Dayton Company had expanded again and opened two new stores in Minnesota, one of which was the world’s first completely enclosed two-story shopping center. In 1962, the name changed again to Target Stores and entered the discount merchandising market.

The period through 1971 is best described as a period of expansion for the Dayton Company, through the purchases of other chains of department stores and building new stores throughout the Midwest.

The Dayton Company also changed its name once more and became the Dayton Corporation. In 1968, the corporation went public and made its first offering of common stock. At the time, the Corporation had nine stores and sales had climbed to more than $60 million. They had also opened the book reseller chain, B. Dalton Bookseller.

By the end of 1970, Dayton Corporation had acquired five more department store chains and had 24 stores bringing in a total sales of $200 million.

Over the subsequent years, the Dayton Corporation continued on a model it seemed to have perfected. It absorbed smaller department store chains and continued to open new Target Stores.

By 1981, there were 151 Target Stores with sales in excess of $2.05 billion. They had three distribution centers spaced throughout the Midwest in Minnesota, Indianapolis and Little Rock.

In 2005, Target opened a facility in Bangalore, India that supports all Target business units. The Corporation has plans to continue to expand their operations in India with new office buildings. The Corporation also continues to grow by expanding its number of stores.

By the early part of 2010, Target will have a store in every state of the Union. Today, Target Corporation has its headquarters in Minneapolis near the site of the original store.

Financial Standing

Target Stores is the second largest discount department store in the nation and is only exceeded by WalMart. They are number 28 on the Fortune 500 2009 listing and make up part of Standard & Poor’s 500 index. They have also licensed the Target bulls eye logo to Target Australia for use by a completely separate chain of stores.

Philanthropy

Target Corporation is ranked consistently in the top philanthropic companies in the United States. Target donates about five percent of its pre-tax operating profit to charity organizations across the nation. It is also a policy of the Corporation to give back to the communities where they are located.

One of their programs is aimed at helping the schools in the areas their stores are situated. They give a percentage of charges made on their Target VISA card to schools that the buyer designates. So far, they have given more than $150 million dollars to schools. In total, Target Corporation gives about $3 million dollars a week to the communities in which they operate.

Environmentally Conscious

Target Corporation is committed to reducing the impact of their stores and products on the environment. They have instituted a recycling program at all their stores and installed reduced flow restrooms that reduce water consumption by 30 percent.

The stores that operate in Oklahoma have also agreed to convert their power consumption to wind generated power to reduce energy usage. All lighting has been changed to fluorescent or LED lighting on store fronts.

Many stores have converted their roofs to green roofs or garden roofs that help absorb storm water, reducing runoff. They also serve as a bird sanctuary and help reduce temperature fluctuations.

Over 700 products that Target Stores sell have been converted to suppliers that manufacture earth friendly products. They carry organic fabrics, recycled material furniture and non-animal tested products. The Corporation has also been taking measures to phase out plastic wrap in its stores and shipping. This elimination will reduce the amount of plastic that needs to be disposed of in landfills.