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    Dayton's Department Store
    Dayton's Department Store
    Dayton's Department Store
    Ebook166 pages37 minutes

    Dayton's Department Store

    By Mary Firestone

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    About this ebook

    Dayton’s department store, grand in scope and company spirit, enjoyed a century in the limelight as one of the nation’s leading retailers. Its disappearance has been a challenge to the community, but it is a sign of the times, as many other urban department stores have shared the same fate. Originally called Goodfellows, the store got its start in 1902 when real estate investor and banker George Draper Dayton became a silent partner in the business. He soon took over the company but had to learn the ropes of retail as he went along since he had never intended to become a merchant. The early years were not without struggles, but Dayton’s department store was nevertheless an instant hit with its daylight-filled aisles, generous return policies, and quality merchandise. The Minneapolis store became a vibrant self-contained community with a post office, newspaper, infirmary, laundry, bakery, and even a college. “Daytonians” worked and played together around the clock, in baseball and bowling teams, glee clubs, and orchestras. Over time, the reach of Dayton’s extended far into the upper Midwest, with stores in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, including the development of the nation’s first indoor mall.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateNov 14, 2007
    ISBN9781439644966
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      Book preview

      Dayton's Department Store - Mary Firestone

      Target.

      INTRODUCTION

      When George Draper Dayton first stepped off the train onto Minnesota land in 1881, he arrived at a time when the prairie was alive with Native American tribes, herds of bison, and rich, unbroken soil. He came because of investments he made in the area around Worthington, an interest he shared with several other eastern investors who had lent money to the wave of European immigrants needing cash to settle in the Midwest. But their investments were destabilized by draught, grasshopper plagues, and extreme winters, making life difficult if not impossible for settlers to make a living from their farms, and many abandoned their land. Their mortgages had been managed locally, but Dayton got involved directly when settlers defaulted. Frequently he helped them get back on their feet.

      Dayton clearly had financial reasons to settle in the area, but having grown up in a small town in rural New York, he was drawn to the prairie. He built a large home in Worthington, bought the town bank, and his young family soon joined him. He also formed the Minnesota Loan and Investment Company, and the success of that company eventually made it necessary for Dayton to explore other ways to put his money to work.

      After carefully researching the potential of different cities, Dayton decided on the commercial promise of Minneapolis, which was already booming with the lumber and flour mills of St. Anthony. When Westminster Presbyterian church, which was on the southwest corner of Nicollet Avenue and Seventh Street, burned to the ground, he bought the land. He put up a new building on the property and was looking around for tenants when two young businessmen came to him for a loan. They said they wanted to buy a clothing store down the street called Goodfellow’s.

      Dayton loaned them the money and became a silent partner in the process. He then convinced the partners to relocate, making Goodfellow’s a tenant in his new building at Nicollet Avenue and Seventh Street. Soon the store’s name was changed from Goodfellow’s to Dayton’s Daylight Store, and when George Dayton became the sole owner in 1903, the name was changed to Dayton Dry Goods Company. The business had its struggles in the first years, because Dayton had never been a merchant. However, the retail bug must have bit hard, because he became extremely determined despite all the losses, saying, I kept track of the losses until they passed one hundred thousand dollars, adding, we’re going to make this a win.

      Dayton Dry Goods occupied three floors of a new, six-story building and was remarkable in the day for its roominess and large windows. The first floor ceilings were 16 feet high, and daylight flooded the space because in those days, there were very few tall buildings nearby to block its flow. At night, incandescent globes cast a warm glow, reflecting highly polished glass and wood cabinets filled with exquisite linens, stockings, petticoats, gloves, notions, and perfumes. As the store expanded every few years, comforts were increased. Restrooms were added to every floor, as well as escalators and new services such as the Looking Glass Salon and an infirmary. A soda fountain and lunchroom were added to the Downstairs Store (also known as the basement store), which in its day was the third largest retail outlet in the Twin Cities, fulfilling George Dayton’s wish to make the store accessible to as many people as possible.

      Donaldsons’ Glass Block occupied the southeast corner of Nicollet Avenue and Sixth Street, and the proximity of the two stores led to a race (or a war, as the Minneapolis Tribune described it at the time) for the largest Nicollet Avenue presence, with Dayton’s emerging as the winner in 1917. This was no small feat considering Donaldsons’ equally elegant merchandise and interior, plus a two-decade lead in retail. But Dayton, determined to lead, caught the eye of consumers with promotions, sales, and over-the-top publicity moves. In 1920,

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