Target Founder Douglas Dayton Dead At 88

Target founder Douglas Dayton is dead at 88.

One of Walmart’s greatest competitors, Target always strives for great deals on the things you want. The retail chain is so famous that even comedians such as Daniel Tosh and the late Mitch Hedberg have mentioned the store in their standup routines.

Mitch Hedberg’s take was that Target has it all wrong and there should be people plastered all over the front of the store because they missed, and there should be a greeter that congratulates you for making it inside.

All kidding aside, Douglas James Dayton was the youngest of five sons who took over a Minneapolis department store from their father in 1948. Target founder Douglas Dayton had served in the US Army in Europe during World War II, where he was injured and awarded a purple heart. In 1960, he became the first president of Target. Aiming to keep the family business running, Douglas Dayton opened four Target stores in the Twin Cities suburbs to compete with upcoming retail giants such as Kmart.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is his nephew, and said Target founder Douglas Dayton was “an extraordinary businessman, philanthropist, and leader of our family.”

Douglas Dayton obviously did something right, as now Target is one of the top retail chains in America, a household name right up there with Walmart and the Kroger variety of stores (Fred Meyer, Fry’s, etc.).

In 1968, Douglas Dayton left the presidency to help run the family business of Dayton-Hudson department stores once again, and ended up consolidating the store with Target Corp.. For years now, Target Corp. has no longer been operated by the Dayton family. The family owned stores in Minnesota are now mostly operated by Macy’s.

Target founder Douglas Dayton left the company in 1974 and retired in 1994, but remained a member of a number of charitable groups. His wife Wendy Dayton said Sunday, “He and his brothers shared a common vision for improvement to the community, and to give back what the community had given them.”

Rest in peace, Target founder Douglas Dayton. You truly started something huge.