Dillard's
Dillard's is a department store chain headquartered at 1600 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, Arkansas. Dillard's operates 330 stores in twenty-nine states. The company was founded by William T. Dillard in 1938. The current chairman and CEO is William T. Dillard II.
William T. Dillard acquired stores in Texarkana, Arkansas, and Tyler, Texas, before making major acquisitions in 1960 with the purchase of Tulsa's Brown-Dunkin department store, in 1963 with the purchase of Pfeifer Brothers Department Store in Little Rock, and in 1964 with the acquisition of the Gus Blass Department Store also in Little Rock. The company was first listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) as Dillard Department Stores in 1969.
Dillard's corporate headquarters in Little Rock in the 1950s was located at 900 West Capitol Avenue. The downtown Dillard's building was originally leased to Southwestern Bell Telephone-Arkansas in 1941. The architect of the building was Little Rock native Charles Eichenbaum. The 524 Main Street building, originally two stories in height, was later modified by the addition of two more stories and a north addition.
References
- Leroy Donald, "Dallas Firm Buys Old Dillard's HQ in Downtown LR," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 15, 2008.
- Leon J. Rosenberg, Dillard's: The First Fifty Years (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1988).
