Dillard's Founder Dies in Little Rock

William Dillard, founder of Dillard's Department Stores, died over the weekend in Little Rock, Ark. He was 87.

The son and grandson of merchants (he began working at his father's general store in Mineral Springs, Ark., at age 12), Dillard opened a department store in Nashville, Ark., in 1938, after receiving his MBA from Columbia University. His capital was $8000 he had borrowed from his father.

In 1948, he sold the lone store and began creating a retail empire, first in Arkansas, then Texas, eventually throughout the South. His success, he claimed, was based on “giving the customers value, and advertising.”

In 1964, he opened his first mall store, in Austin, Texas, then rode the enclosed shopping center explosion of the 1960s and 70s. The chain now operates about 340 locations in about 30 states. It purchased Cincinnati-based Mercantile Stores in 1998 to boost its presence in the Midwest and South.

He retired in 1998, and the organization is now run by sons William II (ceo), Alex (president) and Mike (vp) and daughters Drue Corbusier and Denise Mahaffy (also vp's). The Dillards also elect most of the company's directors.

While Dillard was given credit as a visionary in pioneering mall locations and the use of technology (his was one of the first retail organizations to implement computerized checkout systems for inventory tracking), he was also criticized for his reliance on family members to run the operation. “It is a public company run as a private company,” was one frequent complaint. The company's stock is at about 40 percent of its 1992 high and its credit rating is below investment grade by both Moody's Investor Service and Standard & Poor's.