History
Dayton's, a department store chain based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, began the B. Dalton chain in 1966. The name B. Dalton was chosen because it "connoted quality, dependability and authority." Dalton was a spelling variation of Dayton. The first store opened in nearby Edina in August of that year, followed by a second in St. Louis, Missouri. Although the chain was originally intended to operate in downtowns and suburban areas, the majority of the stores were opened inside regional shopping malls. By 1969, Dayton's had merged with Hudson's of Detroit and became Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation).
B. Dalton expanded throughout the 1960s and 1970s, going from twelve stores in 1968 to 125 five years later, peaking at 798 locations in 1986. In 1968, the chain acquired Pickwick Books of California, which merged in 1979. B. Dalton had stores in 43 of 50 states in 1978, and was second to Waldenbooks (then the U.S.' largest bookstore) in store numbers, but posted higher profits than its rival. A flagship store opened in Manhattan in December 1978, and between 1983 and 1986, the chain revived the Pickwick name as a discount bookstore.
Read more about this topic: B. Dalton
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It is my conviction that women are the natural orators of the race.”
—Eliza Archard Connor, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 9, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“American time has stretched around the world. It has become the dominant tempo of modern history, especially of the history of Europe.”
—Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978)
“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)