OPINION

TOM DILLARD: Opening the doors to Dillard's

One of Arkansas' most successful businessmen, William T. Dillard, was born on this date in 1914. By the time of his death in 2002, Dillard's Inc. was the third largest department store chain in the nation.

William Thomas Dillard was born at Mineral Springs in Howard County, the only child of Thomas Jacques and Hattie Gibson Dillard. His parents were involved in several businesses as well as farming; a general store in Mineral Springs was their main endeavor.

Young William grew up in the retail business, and by age 12 he was working part-time in the store. He was greatly influenced by his hard-working parents, especially his father's reputation for honesty and fairness. When the local bank failed due to a manager absconding with the deposits, Thomas Dillard, as bank president, worked for years to reimburse all depositors for their losses.

William attended the local public schools in Mineral Springs, where he excelled. His high academic grades allowed him to skip the sixth grade, so he was only 16 when he and six other students graduated from Mineral Springs High School in 1931.

Dillard attended the University of Arkansas, graduating with a bachelor's degree in business in 1935. He then worked for a year at his father's store. Then the offer of a full scholarship from Columbia University took him to New York City. In 1937 he received a master's degree in business administration from Columbia.

Dillard's interest in merchandising was already well established by the time he entered Columbia, and he spent his free time working at Wanamaker's, a large Manhattan department store, and Melville Shoe Store in the Bronx. Although he did not need the income, these jobs allowed Dillard to study the workings of large stores. Leon Joseph Rosenberg, author of a book on Dillard's, wrote that Dillard "quickly recognized the successful combination of carrying a varied line of merchandise at fixed prices, selling on credit, advertising, and going to great lengths to ensure customer satisfaction--techniques he would master and perfect years later."

After working briefly for Sears, 23-year-old Dillard opened his own store on Feb. 12, 1938, in nearby Nashville, Ark., the county seat of Howard County. Thomas Dillard loaned his son the $8,000 necessary to start the new store. He allowed his son to name the venture T.J. Dillard's, thereby taking advantage of his father's widespread reputation as a fair and honest merchant.

In June 1940, following a five-year courtship, Dillard married Alexa Latimer, the daughter of a prominent Nashville merchant who had been in business for more than 50 years. The couple had five children.

During World War II Dillard volunteered for the Navy, but his father's declining health kept him in Nashville. Dillard's strong relationships with area wholesalers allowed him to keep his shelves stocked despite war-imposed shortages. Indeed, he was even able to begin selling wholesale. By 1945, Dillard's retail sales had reached $300,000 and wholesale sales of $100,000--huge sums for a single store in a small town.

While his wife was happy to stay in Nashville, Dillard yearned for a larger field of endeavor. In 1948 Dillard sold his Nashville store and became a part owner of Wooten's Department Store in Texarkana. The following year Dillard borrowed money from prominent Little Rock businessmen Raymond Rebsamen and Fred Rogers, using the funds to buy full ownership of Wooten's.

Willing to work long hours and take risks, Dillard made Wooten's profitable within three months. During his time in Texarkana, Dillard developed many of the business techniques he would use successfully for the remainder of his life. "He combined an unprecedented advertising campaign," Leon J. Rosenberg has written, "with quality name-brand merchandise available on convenient credit terms, in an attractive, comfortable store." In 1949 alone, Dillard bought 30,000 inches of newspaper ads.

During his time in Texarkana, Dillard began making buying trips to Europe. He had the good fortune of being a friend of Dorothy Shaver, an Arkansas native who was president of Lord & Taylor of New York, who connected Dillard to European wholesalers.

In March 1955, Dillard began expanding his company to new locations with the purchase of a store in Magnolia in southern Arkansas. In the spring of 1956 he expanded again, this time buying control of an old and respected store in Tyler, Texas, Mayer & Schmidt's Department Store.

By the spring of 1960 Dillard was ready to take a larger step, this time acquiring Brown-Dunkin Co. of Tulsa. This was a large store which dated to 1924, and it was in financial trouble. After moving his family from Texas to Tulsa, Dillard was able to turn around the store.

Dillard returned his attention to Arkansas in 1963 when he purchased Joseph Pfeifer Department Store, and one year later Gus Blass Department Store, both in Little Rock. The Dillard family relocated again, this time permanently, to Little Rock.

W.T. Dillard foresaw the growing importance of suburban shopping malls, and in 1965 he opened stores at Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock and Southland Shopping Mall in Tulsa. With substantially improved financing, Dillard accelerated his expansion efforts. By the time of his death in 2002, the Dillard empire consisted of 350 stores in 29 states, with $8.5 billion in sales.

In reporting on Dillard's death, The New York Times attributed much of his success to his "visionary use of technology, particularly computerized checkout systems that track inventory." Dillard worked closely with IBM to develop computer programs which would meet specific needs of his stores. The company went public in 1969, though the family retained control of the Class B voting stock.

W.T. Dillard retired as chief executive in 1998, and his eldest son, William Dillard II, took his place. All of his children have played management roles in the company.

The last 20 years have not always been kind to Dillard' s Inc. Tightening markets have reduced income, forcing the company to sell many assets. Investors have also complained about the family's grip on voting stock. Discrimination lawsuits have also been an on-going challenge.

In 1999 W.T. Dillard was among the first class of inductees in the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame--which also included Sam Walton, Charles Murphy Jr., and Jack Stephens.

Dillard died at the age of 87 on Feb. 8, 2002. He is buried at Roselawn Memorial Park.

Tom Dillard--who is not related to the W.T. Dillard family--is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com.

Editorial on 09/02/2018

Upcoming Events