Bruce Bliss Dayton (August 16, 1918 – November 13, 2015) was an American retail executive, businessman, heir to the Dayton's Company fortune, and philanthropist. Dayton was the last surviving member of the five Dayton brothers – all grandsons of

George Dayton George Draper Dayton (March 6, 1857 – February 18, 1938) was an American businessman and philanthropist, most famous for being the founder of Dayton's department store, which later became Target Corporation. Life and career Dayton was born ...

, the founder of The Dayton Company – who expanded Dayton's

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

founded by their grandfather in downtown

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

from a single location into the national

Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...

, one of the largest retail store chains in the United States. Dayton served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the

Dayton Hudson Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compo ...

, the company now known as the Target Corporation, before becoming the chairman of Dayton Hudson from 1970 to 1977. He also founded the B. Dalton Bookseller in 1966. He named the bookstore chain after himself, replacing the Y in his surname with an L. At its height, B. Dalton was the largest retailer of hardcover books in the U.S., with 798 locations. Dayton was the father of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and U.S. Senator from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He was a United States Senator for Minnesota from 2001 to 2007, and the Minnesota State Auditor from 1991 to ...

. Dayton was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

donor.

Life and career

Dayton was born in

, Minnesota, on August 16, 1918, as the second oldest of five brothers. He was the grandson of

George Draper Dayton George Draper Dayton (March 6, 1857 – February 18, 1938) was an American businessman and philanthropist, most famous for being the founder of Dayton's department store, which later became Target Corporation. Life and career Dayton was born ...

, who had founded the Dayton Company, a Minneapolis department store established in 1902. His mother was the former Grace Bliss, while his father, George Nelson Dayton, was the President and Chairman of Dayton Company. Dayton received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1940. He then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and arrived in France on May 10, 1945, just two days after

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

. He started working at the Dayton Company, the families retail company, in 1940 in the merchandise receiving room. Dayton became the company's treasurer in 1940. Upon the death of their father George Nelson Dayton in 1950, the five Dayton brothers inherited the Dayton Co. the upscale department store, founded by their grandfather. The brothers opened the first

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

in 1962 as a discount retailer. Together, the brothers, would expand both into national retail chains. In 1967, the Dayton Co. went public with its initial stock offering. Bruce Dayton succeeded his brother, Donald Dayton, as Dayton Co.'s president and CEO in 1969. The Dayton Company merged with J.L. Hudson Co., a retail store headquartered in Detroit in 1969, to form the

. Bruce Dayton, described as the more "financially-oriented" brother, oversaw the company with a focus on profits and the bottom line. Bruce Dayton became the Dayton Hudson Corporation's chairman in 1970. His brother, Kenneth N. Dayton, succeeded Bruce Dayton as the company's CEO. In 1975, their Target store chain surpassed Dayton Hudson's more traditional departments stores as the company's top revenue earner. Bruce Dayton left the management of the company in 1977 but remained on the board of directors until 1983. In 1983, Bruce Dayton, and his brother, CEO Kenneth N. Dayton, both retired from the company's board of directors, ending the 80-year day-to-day direct ownership by the Dayton family. The company, which changed its name to the

, is no longer owned or operated by the Dayton family. The Dayton Hudson Corporation sold B. Dalton, the bookstore chain founded by Bruce Dayton, to Barnes & Noble in 1986 for an estimated $275 million. Bruce Dayton continued his work in philanthropy after stepping down from Dayton Hudson in 1983. He served as a trustee of the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

(Mia) for 73 years and donated more than $80 million to the museum. In 2009, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' referred to Bruce Dayton as "a dean of American corporate arts philanthropy." Bruce Dayton died at his home in Orono, Minnesota, on November 13, 2015, at the age of 97. He was survived by his wife, Ruth Stricker Dayton; two sons, Governor of Minnesota

and Brandt Dayton; two daughters, Lucy Dayton (Mark O'Keefe) and Anne Dayton; two step-children, The governor's office today said Bruce Dayton "is survived by his wife, Ruth Stricker Dayton; his four children, Mark Dayton, Brandt Dayton (Tian), Lucy Dayton (Mark O'Keefe), and Anne Dayton; two step-children, Kim Griffin (Robert) and Mark Stricker; eleven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren."''

MinnPost ''MinnPost'' is a nonprofit online newspaper in Minneapolis, founded in 2007, with a focus on Minnesota news. Funding ''MinnPosts initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and ...

'' article by Joe Kimball; November 13, 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton, Bruce 1918 births 2015 deaths Businesspeople from Minneapolis Target Corporation people Retail company founders American retail chief executives 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II Yale University alumni People from Orono, Minnesota Military personnel from Minneapolis Dayton family 20th-century American philanthropists