Each year at Little Rock Fashion Week, we will honor an Arkansas native or corporation who has made special contributions in the fashion industry.
This recepient of the 2010 Little Rock Fashion Week Icon Award is Dillard's, Incorporated.
Alex Dillard, President (left) and William Dillard, II CEO (right)
William Dillard, the founder and Chairman of Dillard’s, Inc., developed a keen interest in retailing at an early age. He started his success story in 1938 when, with $8,000 borrowed from his father, he opened a small store in his wife's hometown of Nashville, Arkansas. By that time, he had better than 12 years of part-time and summer experience working in his father's Mineral Springs, Arkansas store. After completing college (University of Arkansas-1935) and graduate school (Columbia University School of Business-1937), Mr. Dillard began working as a management trainee for Sears Roebuck & Company. Shortly after completing the training course, a period of only seven months, Mr. Dillard left Sears and opened his first store.
Even in the beginning, Mr. Dillard was well aware of the value of effective advertising in building a business. With each move/expansion, the company has stressed value in its advertising. Aside from a short period during World War II, the Company continued operating and expanding its Nashville location. In 1948, Dillard, looking for more growth prospects, sold the Nashville store and used the money, along with some outside financing, to buy controlling interest in a Texarkana (AR,TX) store. His competitive strategy was to offer attractively priced national name brand merchandise along with customer credit. By 1953, it was the leading store in Texarkana. From Texarkana, Dillard expanded to Tyler, Texas in 1956 with the purchase of an existing store. In early 1960 he entered into a similar transaction for a Tulsa, Oklahoma store which was twice the size of the now thriving Tyler operation.
The department store operator opened his first store in a shopping mall in 1964 in Austin, TX, a decision which proved to have significant implications in the chain's future growth strategy. One of the cornerstones of Dillard's philosophy is that location is the key to success. Meanwhile, the Company had purchased two central Arkansas department store chains, relocated its headquarters to Little Rock, Arkansas, implemented a centralized computer system, realigned its capital structure and used its existing store base as a vehicle for expansion into mall locations. Throughout the late sixties and beyond, this aggressive mall expansion would continue. By the early 1970's, the chain had moved into Louisiana, Missouri and New Mexico and had expanded its presence in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, thus necessitating a divisional organization within the parent company.
On February 8, 2002, William T. Dillard passed away leaving a legacy of tremendous success in retailing. Today, a major part of Dillard's marketing philosophy remains based on Mr. Dillard's sound selling methods, keen attention of day-to-day organizational details, alert selection of personnel and hard work. Presently, the chain consists of approximately 300 stores spanning 29 states, all operating under one name - Dillard's.
Source: Dillard's, Inc. (2010). Retrieved June 26, 2010 from http://investor.shareholder.
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