Douglas James Dayton was an American retail executive, businessman, and philanthropist and heir to the Dayton's Company fortune who was the co-founder of the Target discount stores chain.
27 Facts About Douglas Dayton
1.
2.
Douglas Dayton started his career at the family company: Dayton's department stores.
3.
Douglas Dayton served in the Army during World War II, earning a Purple Heart.
4.
Douglas Dayton held various positions in the company, and urged the company to take advantage of the emerging discount store market.
5.
Douglas Dayton oversaw the company's expansion until 1969 when he became a vice president of Target's parent company after a merger.
6.
Douglas Dayton left the business in 1972, forming a venture capital firm in 1974.
7.
Douglas Dayton retired in 1994 but remained active in charity work until his death in 2013.
8.
Douglas James Dayton was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 2,1924.
9.
Douglas Dayton graduated from the Blake School and then went to Amherst College.
10.
Douglas Dayton served as a sergeant in an Army infantry division during World War II, earning a Purple Heart after being injured fighting in Europe.
11.
In 1954, Douglas Dayton opened Douglas Dayton's first branch store and subsequently served as vice president of branch stores and merchandise vice president at different times.
12.
Douglas Dayton became the first president of the new business, a subsidiary of Douglas Dayton's.
13.
Douglas Dayton's brothers doubted his ambitious prediction, but it became a reality in 1968.
14.
Hudson Company and Douglas Dayton left Target to become a senior vice president in the new company, Douglas Dayton Hudson Corporation.
15.
Douglas Dayton oversaw the opening of the company's first distribution center.
16.
Douglas Dayton found he did not like working in administration and left Douglas Dayton Hudson in 1972.
17.
Douglas Dayton spent the next two years leading a team of volunteer executives that helped find ways for the state government to run more efficiently.
18.
In 1974, Douglas Dayton formed a venture capital firm, Dade Development Capital, which he ran until his retirement in 1994.
19.
Douglas Dayton called his time as president of Target "the most challenging, rewarding and productive" years of his career.
20.
The Dayton family started one of the first corporate-giving programs in Minnesota and Douglas Dayton said he always found donating money more satisfying than making it.
21.
Douglas Dayton remained active in philanthropy after his retirement from the business world.
22.
Douglas Dayton campaigned for social justice, educational and environmental causes, and the arts.
23.
Douglas Dayton served on the boards of the Urban League, Summit Academy, the Minneapolis Urban Coalition, and Nature Conservancy, among other philanthropic organizations.
24.
Douglas Dayton served as chairman of the board for the area YMCA for more than 50 years and worked with the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center on prairie restoration.
25.
Douglas Dayton married Shirley Deyo Whiteman, a divorced woman who had three daughters by her previous marriage and descendant of Louis DuBois, on December 17,1977.
26.
Douglas Dayton died of cancer on July 5,2013, at the age of 88.
27.
Douglas Dayton is survived by his wife, Wendy; sons, David, Steve, and Bruce; stepdaughter, Elizabeth; and six grandchildren.