DILLARD'S
William Thomas Dillard's retail empire began with his opening of the T.J. Dillard store -in Nashville, Arkansas- in February 1938. Thomas Jacques Dillard, William's father, had operated the original T.J. Dillard store -in Mineral Springs, Arkansas- for several years.
In March 1948, William T. Dillard sold the Nashville unit and became co-owner of the existing Wooten's department store, in Texarkana, Arkansas. Dillard establishing full ownership of said store in 1949. A branch was established, in Magnolia, Arkansas, in 1955. The Texarkana and Magnolia Dillard's were sold in 1960.
Meanwhile, William Dillard had acquired two retail stores during the 1950s; Tyler, Texas' Mayer & Schmidt (in 1956) and Tulsa, Oklahoma's Brown-Dunkin (in 1959). Stores continued to operate under their original nameplates. The next store to operate under a Dillard's nameplate opened, at Austin, Texas' HANCOCK CENTER, in February 1964. A second Dillard's was dedicated, at Fayetteville's, Arkansas' NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PLAZA, in March 1972.
A series of aggressive store buyouts expanded the chain exponentially during the 1970s and '80s. The Kansas market was entered in 1975, Louisiana in 1976, Tennessee in 1981 and Missouri, Oklahoma, Nevada and Arizona in 1985. 1986 brought the acquisition and rebranding of Macy's Kansas City locations. Dillard's stores were added in Texas in 1987 and in Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama in 1989. The Carolinas came into the Dillard's realm in 1990.
In 1994, a joint venture with Wal-Mart and Cifra, Mexico's leading retailer, was announced. The plan was to open six Dillard's stores south of the border by 1996. However, economic turmoil in Mexico resulted in the abandonment of this expansion plan in May 1996. The stores were never built.
The final Dillard's expansion was conducted in 1998 when the entire Mercantile Stores holding company was absorbed. In the 2020s, there were 282 Dillard's stores in operation in twenty-nine states of the Union.
DILLARD'S SHOPPING MALL STORES:
*HANCOCK CENTER, Austin, TX (1964)
*NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PLAZA, Fayetteville, AR (1972)
*BROADWAY SQUARE, Tyler, TX (1975)
