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Donaldson's

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Donaldson's
Company typeDepartment store
IndustryRetail
Founded1883
Defunct1987
FateAcquired by Carson Pirie Scott
HeadquartersMinneapolis, Minnesota
ProductsApparel, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, toys, records, cosmetics, and household goods.
File:Lawrence S. Donaldson - DPLA - cfd234f7112885794113d2f79155c049.jpg
Lawrence S. Donaldson
File:L. S. Donaldson Company Store - DPLA - 3f8e364ad2b23b0765f1f2aeb70fb432.jpg
L. S. Donaldson Company Store (1924)

Donaldson's, originally established as the L. S. Donaldson Company, was a department store chain based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that is no longer in operation.

History

In 1881, Scottish immigrant William Donaldson launched a modest retail shop at 310 Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. Two years later, in 1883, William joined forces with his brother Lawrence to acquire a one-and-a-half-story establishment named Colton and Company, notable for its extensive glass block facade. This architectural element led to the store being popularly referred to as "Donaldson's Glass Block Store" during its early period. By 1888, the initial structure was torn down and replaced with a five-story building featuring a dome atop its roof, elevators, and expansive plate glass windows. Following William’s death by 1899, Lawrence assumed control and rebranded the enterprise as the "L.S. Donaldson Company." The business continued to grow steadily, culminating in the erection of a new eight-story building costing $2,000,000 (approximately $Template:Format price adjusted for inflation), occupying an entire block along Nicollet Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets. This new flagship store preserved the iconic dome from the 1888 design and officially opened on November 10, 1924, amid considerable public excitement. The dome was later dismantled in April 1942 and repurposed for wartime materials during Second World War efforts.

Lawrence Donaldson served as president of the L.S. Donaldson Company until his passing in 1924—just four months prior to the grand opening of the new Minneapolis location he had envisioned. Joseph Chapman succeeded him as president thereafter. Seeking to enhance expansion opportunities and strengthen purchasing capabilities while maintaining their leadership and brand identity, L.S. Donaldson Company merged with Hahn Department Stores Inc. in 1928. Subsequently, in 1935, following Hahn’s financial restructuring initiatives, Hahn Department Stores Inc. was renamed Allied Stores Corporation.

Expansion

Following its acquisition by Allied Stores, Donaldson's pursued further growth, inaugurating its first branch in Rapid City, South Dakota in January 1948, situated in the former C.C. Anderson building.[1] A subsequent outlet opened in Rochester, Minnesota on October 15, 1953.[2]

In 1961, Allied Stores transferred ownership of the Golden Rule store in St. Paul, Minnesota to Donaldson's,[3] which operated under the name Donaldson's - Golden Rule. By April 1965, promotional materials for the St. Paul location omitted the Golden Rule branding, adopting solely the Donaldson's name.[4]

The company’s expansion persisted throughout the 1970s; by 1976, Donaldson's operated stores in both Minneapolis and St. Paul as well as several suburban shopping centers such as Southdale Center, Brookdale Center, Rosedale Center, and Ridgedale Center.[5]

In 1978, Allied Stores expanded Donaldson's portfolio by transferring control of the James Black Company chain—comprising three stores based in Waterloo, Iowa—to Donaldson's.[6]

In a strategic move announced in 1977, Donaldson's planned to relocate its flagship Minneapolis store from Nicollet Avenue’s east side to the newly developed City Center across Nicollet.[7] Concurrently, under president Charles B. James II’s leadership in 1980, Donaldson's revamped its marketing strategy, shuttered its budget store, and shifted its St. Paul operations from the former Golden Rule premises to a newly constructed facility.[8] In 1981, Allied Stores appointed Charles B. James II to oversee their Joske's division and named William Murray, aged 37, as Donaldson's new president.[9] Tragically, William Murray passed away from cancer just eleven months after his appointment; Leonard Snyder succeeded him as president.[10] The new Donaldson's store within Minneapolis City Center officially opened in August 1982.[11] At that time, this downtown location ranked third in sales among the chain’s outlets, trailing behind Southdale Center and Brookdale Center.[12]

The former Donaldson's building complex occupying half a city block along with the neighboring Northwestern National Bank Building was destroyed during the Thanksgiving Day Fire of 1982[13] due to an act of arson. This incident inflicted damages estimated at $75 million and remains the most devastating fire in Minneapolis history.[14] Two juveniles were initially charged with igniting the blaze while demolition was underway;[15] however, these charges were eventually dismissed.[16] Today, the former Donaldson's site is occupied by Gaviidae Common, while the adjacent bank property houses the Wells Fargo Center, which succeeded Northwestern National Bank/Norwest.

In a significant acquisition during 1985, Allied Stores purchased The Powers Dry Goods Company—a struggling competitor in the Twin Cities market—from Associated Dry Goods Corp.[17] This deal included six of seven Powers locations within the area (the downtown Minneapolis store was sold separately to a real estate company), expanding Donaldson's presence by approximately forty percent and increasing its total Twin Cities stores to twelve.[18]

Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

Following Campeau Corp.'s acquisition of Allied Stores Corp. in January 1987, Campeau was compelled to divest 15 of Allied's 24 retail locations to manage the $1.1 billion debt accumulated through the takeover. By February 1987, Campeau had identified Donaldson's as one of the properties available for sale. However, by May 1987, reports indicated that the sale of Donaldson's might be delayed due to the absence of buyers willing to meet the $190 million asking price set by Campeau. Notably, Donaldson's had just recorded its most lucrative first quarter ever. In August 1987, Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co. purchased Donaldson's for $163.5 million. Subsequently, in April 1988, the Donaldson's brand was officially rebranded as Carson Pirie Scott & Co., marking 107 years since the original Donaldson's store opened.

Less than two years after acquiring Donaldson's, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. itself was purchased by P.A. Bergner & Co., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (previously Peoria, Illinois), in May 1989 for an amount exceeding $450 million. Two years post-acquisition, Bergner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 1991. As part of restructuring efforts, Bergner announced the closure of Carson's flagship store in downtown Minneapolis in May 1992, a decade after its opening, followed by the shutdown of the St. Paul location in July 1992, which had operated for twelve years.

Emerging from bankruptcy in August 1993, Bergner adopted the Carson’s name moving forward. In October 1993, Carson’s closed two additional Twin Cities stores: Highland Park in St. Paul and Knollwood in St. Louis Park.

Closure

In January 1995, Carson's discontinued all its Twin Cities outlets and transferred these properties to Dayton Hudson Corp., the parent company of Dayton's. Many of these sites were prime mall locations, highly sought after by Dayton's rivals. To strategically block competitors like Nordstrom, which had minimal or no presence locally, Dayton Hudson launched its moderate-priced Mervyn's stores at these venues.

By 2004, after Dayton's stores had been rebranded as Marshall Field's and subsequently sold by Target Corporation, the new owner, May Department Stores, also took over the nine Twin Cities Mervyn's stores. These Mervyn's locations were quickly closed, and May assumed responsibility for managing the properties. In 2005, May Department Stores was acquired by Federated Stores, which later rebranded itself as Macy's.

The final Donaldson's site in Minnesota to close was located at Miracle Mile in Rochester. This store operated under the Carson Pirie Scott name until 2001 when Saks, then Carson's parent company, announced a relocation to the former Montgomery Ward building. Upon reopening, the store carried the Herberger's brand—another retail chain owned by Saks. As of 2018, the Herberger's chain was liquidated and ceased all operations.

Donaldson's in Popular Culture

During the filming of the Minneapolis exterior shots for the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in March 1970, the iconic hat-toss moment was captured right outside Donaldson's.[19] This detail is most clearly observed by examining the early episodes of the first season frame by frame. While much of this footage was removed from openings in subsequent seasons, the hat-toss remained a consistent element throughout the entire series' credits.

A statue honoring Moore was commissioned by TV Land and is currently positioned near the entrance of the former Dayton's building across the street.[20]

References

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  5. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  14. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  20. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

External links

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