Dillard's
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (department stores) |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Founder | William T. Dillard |
| Headquarters | Little Rock, Arkansas , United States |
Area served | 29 U.S. states (mainly South, Midwest, and Texas) |
Key people | Members of the Dillard family (executives and board members) |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares |
Overview
Dillard's, Inc. is a prominent American department store retailer operating roughly 267 outlets across 29 states, with its corporate headquarters situated in Little Rock, Arkansas. The highest concentration of these stores is found in Texas, which hosts 57 locations, followed by Florida with 42. While the company maintains a presence in an additional 27 states, it does not operate in the Northeast region (including Washington, D.C. and areas to the north), much of the Upper Midwest—notably Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota—nor extensively on the West Coast, except for three stores in California. The retailer also lacks locations in Alaska and Hawaii.
20th century
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Dillard's traces its origins to a department store established in 1938 by William T. Dillard. The company’s corporate headquarters continue to be situated on the eastern side of Little Rock’s Riverdale district. A significant number of its executives and board members are members of the Dillard family, who maintain control through ownership of Class B Common Stock, while Class A common stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
William T. Dillard launched his initial store in Mineral Springs, Arkansas, in a building locally referred to as "the tater house," positioned opposite the local Methodist church. This original structure was demolished in the early 2000s. After selling his original five and dime store located in Nashville, Arkansas, he pursued development of a department store in Texarkana, Arkansas, beginning as a minority partner in Wooten & Dillard. In 1956, he led an investor group to acquire the Mayer & Schmidt store in Tyler, Texas, which operated under the name "Dillard's Mayer & Schmidt" until 1974 when it relocated to a mall south of downtown Tyler.
In 1960, Dillard acquired the struggling Brown-Dunkin store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, successfully revitalizing it. This success was followed by the late 1963 acquisition of Joseph Pfeifer in Little Rock, Arkansas, and early 1964 acquisition of Gus Blass Co., also in Little Rock. These moves prompted Dillard to move his headquarters to Little Rock. By 1969, Dillard Department Stores, Inc., went public on the American Stock Exchange with Dillard and his investors.
The company experienced rapid growth as a key anchor tenant within suburban shopping malls and leveraged market opportunities to purchase smaller chains and revive underperforming locations that competitors had abandoned. During the 1970s, expansion accelerated primarily through establishing stores in newly developed malls across smaller Texas cities.
In 1971, five stores were acquired from Fedway—a division of Federated Department Stores—and rebranded as Dillard's by 1972. In 1974, five Leonard's stores were obtained in Fort Worth, Texas, alongside plans for a new downtown Fort Worth location at the Tandy Center, formerly Leonard's original site. That same year marked the full rebranding of former Brown-Dunkin, Blass, Pfeifer, and Mayer & Schmidt stores under the Dillard’s name.
Throughout the 1980s, Dillard's continued acquiring regional chains. In 1982, it leased three former Lowenstein's units in Memphis, Tennessee. Early 1984 saw the purchase of twelve Stix, Baer & Fuller stores across St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri from Associated Dry Goods Corp.. Later that year, two department store divisions were purchased from Dayton-Hudson Corporation: Diamond's and John A. Brown stores located in Arizona, Nevada, and Oklahoma. In early 1986, twelve stores from R.H. Macy & Co.’s Midwest Division across Kansas and Missouri were acquired prior to that division’s dissolution in 2006. The summer of 1986 brought purchase of Hemphill-Wells’ three West Texas locations; two were converted into Dillard’s stores at Sunset Mall (San Angelo) and South Plains Mall (Lubbock), while a downtown Lubbock location was shuttered.
In 1987, Dillard's acquired most Joske's stores—26 out of 27—in Texas and Arizona as well as the four-unit Cain-Sloan chain in Nashville from Allied Stores Corp. This acquisition secured multiple anchor positions at various malls throughout Texas and Arizona; many secondary locations were repurposed into expanded home and men's specialty stores—a strategic format allowing efficient growth while limiting competitor access to prime real estate. The Joske’s deal also marked Dillard’s entry into Houston’s retail market. That year also saw co-founding of CDI Contractors with William "Bill" Clark and Braggs Electric Construction Company—a firm responsible for constructing and renovating numerous Dillard’s locations.
In 1988, Dillard's purchased Selber Bros., a clothing department chain established in 1907 with roots in Shreveport, Louisiana, which operated several Texas locations as well.
That same year included acquisition of Miller & Paine’s three Lincoln, Nebraska stores plus a controlling interest in The Higbee Co., Cleveland-based department stores owned jointly with Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. The following year brought purchase of New Orleans-based D.H. Holmes Co., adding eighteen primarily Louisiana locations along with two former Diamond’s stores in Tucson.
The Ivey’s chain consisting of twenty-three outlets across Florida and the Carolinas was acquired from BATUS in 1990. In 1991, Maison Blanche sold eight Florida Gulf Coast stores to Dillard’s; these included locations at Tyrone Square Mall (1973), University Square Mall and WestShore Plaza (both 1974), Countryside Mall (1976), Southgate Plaza (1978), Edison Mall and Coastland Center (both 1985), plus Lakeland Square Mall (1988). By 1992, full ownership of Higbee’s stores was secured along with five Ohio locations from Horne’s as part of a legal settlement following cancellation of an earlier acquisition agreement.
Also during 1992 came acquisitions from liquidations including three Hess's stores (with five more obtained in 1994), two E.M. Scarbrough’s outlets in Austin, two Thalhimer’s locations spanning South Carolina and Tennessee, one former Lord & Taylor at Oak Court Mall (Memphis), plus three Belk-Lindsey outlets in Florida (Gulf View, DeSoto, Eastlake). Except for two Belk Columbia stores acquired in 1995, acquisitions paused until early 1997 when fifteen stores were added: ten former Mervyn’s locations in Florida plus five southern Virginia outlets formerly owned by Proffitt’s—originally acquired from Hess's in 1993. The Mervyn’s portfolio included five units purchased from Lord & Taylor between 1982 and 1987: Cutler Ridge Mall (1982), Coral Square (1984), Miami International Mall and Boynton Beach Mall (both 1985), plus Treasure Coast Square (1987). Additionally, three Jordan Marsh locations—Pompano Fashion Square (1970), Broward Mall (1978), Melbourne Square (1983)—were acquired along with two further outlets at Lakeland Square Mall (1986) and Pembroke Lakes Mall (1992). The Proffitt’s acquisition added two former Rices Nachmans locations at Coliseum Mall (1973) and Pembroke Mall (1981) plus three newly constructed stores: Patrick Henry Mall and Greenbrier Mall (both opened 1987) along with Chesapeake Square (1988). Three suburban Houston Macy’s locations—Willowbrook Mall and Deerbrook Mall (both opened 1984) plus Baybrook Mall (1985)—were incorporated; however The Galleria location remained unaffected.
In 1994 an agreement was formed between Dillard's, Wal-Mart, and Grupo Cifra to establish up to fifty Dillard's-branded stores across Mexico with six slated for opening during 1995-96; though plans for the first location at Plaza Fiesta San Agustin did not materialize.
The series of acquisitions culminated with the purchase of Mercantile Stores Co., Inc., headquartered in Fairfield, Ohio in 1998. This transaction added multiple chains such as Bacon's, Castner Knott, de Lendrecie's Department Store, Gayfers, Glass Block, Hennessy's, J.B. White, Joslins, Lion Store, Maison Blanche, McAlpin's, Root's and The Jones Store to Dillard's portfolio. Subsequently, twenty-six former Mercantile outlets were divested to May Department Stores Co. and Saks Incorporated; seven others were exchanged to Belk for nine Belk stores located across southern Virginia and Chattanooga. This deal significantly strengthened Dillard's presence throughout southern states as well as Midwest and Mountain regions.
Also during that year Dillard's entered California by opening its inaugural store within a former Weinstock's space at Weberstown Mall located in Stockton.
By 1999 new locations were launched near Atlanta at both Mall of Georgia and Arbor Place Mall.
21st century
Template:Update Following the Mercantile acquisition, Dillard's halted expansion through further acquisitions. Nevertheless, in 2001, it procured eight former Montgomery Ward sites across the Midwest and four stores previously operated by ZCMI in Utah and Idaho. This expansion coincided with store openings at locations including Chandler Fashion Center in Chandler, Arizona; The Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia, Georgia; The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, Florida; International Plaza and Bay Street in Tampa, Florida; and The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas.
In 2004, Dillard's divested its store credit card business, run as Dillard's National Bank, selling it to GE Money Bank. Presently, customers may obtain Dillard's-branded American Express cards alongside traditional Dillard's charge cards. These payment options are accepted wherever the American Express network is honored.
The year 2005 saw the launch of new Dillard's stores at Atlanta's Perimeter Mall and Atlantic Station, as well as at St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Additionally, California welcomed its third and most recent Dillard's outlet at the Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro.
Due to economic challenges in 2008, Dillard's shuttered its travel agency operations—Dillard's Travel—including all in-store branches. Previously, this service was available in 43 of the company's 318 outlets. That same year, new stores opened at both The Shops at Wiregrass and Pier Park in Florida. Furthermore, Dillard's completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in CDI Contractors, LLC and CDI Contractors, Inc., entities it had not fully owned before.
Toward the end of 2018, Dillard's declared plans to inaugurate a store in fall 2019 at Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Empire Mall, occupying the site formerly held by Younkers.
By August 2020, this store had yet to commence operations. As of September 2019, Dillard's maintained its headquarters in Arkansas and operated 260 full-line department stores alongside 29 clearance centers. Its footprint spanned primarily across the Southern and Southwestern United States within 29 states. The company also held significant real estate assets domestically, owning approximately 44,300,000 square feet (4,120,000 m2) of the 49,000,000 square feet (4,600,000 m2) utilized for retail and business purposes.
During March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Dillard's garnered attention for keeping a substantial portion of its roughly 290 stores open. The company stated it operated with reduced hours except where state or local mandates required closures.
By April 2020, approximately 200 out of its 285 stores were closed due to pandemic-related restrictions; however, its e-commerce platform remained active. In May of that year, most Tampa Bay locations had reopened except for two stores. During the same period, CEO William Dillard II reported at the annual meeting that the first quarter represented the company's worst performance historically because of COVID-19 disruptions. At that time, Dillard's operated 257 department stores and 28 clearance centers across more than 21 states.
In August 2021’s second quarter financial report, the company refrained from providing store comparisons against pandemic-affected 2020 figures but noted a 14% increase in comparable store sales relative to 2019. Following an $8.6 million net loss in August 2020, Dillard’s recorded a net income of $185.7 million by August 2021.
For fiscal year 2023 (covering the 53 weeks ending February 3, 2024), Dillard's reported net earnings of $738.8 million with net sales totaling $6.75 billion. Operating expenses during this period amounted to $1.77 billion.
In March 2024, Dillard’s opened its inaugural store in the Upper Midwest region within Sioux Falls’ Empire Mall.
That same year introduced "The Coterie Shop," a collection blending online and physical specialty boutiques featuring designers such as Abbey Glass, Buru, Crosby by Mollie Burch, and Fanm Mon. This concept is being rolled out across states including Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
Store formats
The retailer has been steadily growing, recently opening outlets in unconventional shopping venues outside traditional malls. The largest Dillard's location, spanning approximately 365,000 square feet (33,900 m2), is situated at Scottsdale Fashion Square, a major enclosed super-regional mall in Scottsdale, Arizona. Within the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area, Dillard's operates two prominent flagship stores: one covers 299,000-square-foot (27,800 m2) at Northpark Center in Dallas, while the other occupies 310,000-square-foot (29,000 m2) at North East Mall in Hurst. The East Coast flagship, formerly located at the 260,000 square feet (24,000 m2) MacArthur Center in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, ceased operations in 2023. On November 15th, 2022, the company announced plans to build a new flagship store in Lubbock, Texas, which will encompass 220,000 square feet. The chain’s original home store is based in Little Rock, housed within the divided space of the historic and fashion-forward Park Plaza Mall, one of the city’s oldest continuously running shopping centers located in midtown.
Clearance Centers
As of April 2020, Dillard's maintained 28 clearance outlets across the United States.[1] These Clearance Centers operate within 26 mall locations across various states and specialize in selling discounted apparel from previous seasons.[2] Typically positioned in lower-income neighborhoods, these stores offer merchandise that no longer commands premium pricing among Dillard’s typical clientele. The company’s 265 full-line department stores supply these centers with clearance items already reduced by about 65%, which are then further discounted to clear large inventories of clothing and footwear.[2]
These Clearance Centers resemble discount retailers such as Marshalls or TJ Maxx, featuring unpredictable availability and quantities of specific products. However, all inventory at Dillard’s Clearance Centers originates directly from nearby full-line Dillard’s stores. The items include overstocked goods, off-season merchandise, slow-selling products, and occasionally damaged pieces.[3] This setup provides an accessible opportunity for customers to purchase brand-name items at significantly reduced prices.
Operating hours can vary slightly depending on location or holidays; however, typical Clearance Center hours run from Tuesday through Saturday between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sundays from noon until 6 p.m. These stores remain closed on Mondays to facilitate restocking.[4]
Weekly markdowns are applied by department at each Clearance Center; older stock is often reduced to prices ending with "99 cents," reflecting discounts around 65%.[4]
References
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External links
Template:Dillard's history Template:Department stores in the United States
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- Pages with reference errors
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- Companies based in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Culture of the Southern United States
- Economy of the Southeastern United States
- Culture of the Western United States
- Economy of the Western United States
- Clothing retailers of the United States
- Department stores of the United States
- Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- Retail companies established in 1938
- 1938 establishments in Arkansas
- Family-owned companies of the United States