Target Corporation was founded in 1902, though it was not known as Target Corp. at the time. George Dayton opened Good fellows in downtown Minneapolis, which remains at the same location today. In 1903 the company changed their name to Dayton Dry Goods Company. This name did not last long either as it was shortened in 1910 to The Dayton Company. In 1946 The
Dayton Company began a tradition of giving 5% of their profit back to the communities and continues to do so today. In 1953 The Dayton Company adopted a new logo cutting out the word
"company", and just having the word Dayton's as the new logo. In 1954 Hudson's was opened in Detroit Michigan by J.L Hudson who opened the store in Northland Center, the largest shopping center at the time. In 1956 Southdale was opened by the Dayton Company in Minneapolis; this signified the opening of the world's first fully enclosed two-level shopping center. The Dayton Company began to venture into discount merchandising with the opening of the first Target store in 1962. Surprisingly, it wasn't until 1967 that Dayton Corporation first had a public offering of common stock out on the market. The name of the Dayton Corporation changed yet again with the merger of the Dayton Corporation with the J.L. Hudson Company. These ties form the new Dayton Hudson Corporation (DHC). In 1971 revenues top $1 billion for the first time. Mervyn's is acquired in 1978 as the 7th largest retailer in the nation. Starting in 1979,
Target stores are the number one revenue producer for DHC. In just over 10 years revenue goes from $1 billion in 1971 to over $5 billion in 1982. These numbers do not compare with the over
$10 billion in revenue that the company reached five years later in 1987. One very important event was in 1990 when DHC acquired Marshal Fields. Four short years later revenue doubled yet again to $20