Target founder Douglas Dayton dies

Douglas Dayton, the founder of US-based discount retailer Target Corporation has died at the age of 88 after a long battle with cancer. Douglas James Dayton he became the president of Target in 1960, and within two years, the company opened four Target stores in the suburbs of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The company expanded across the US and then into Canada and now has more than 1800 stores in both the countries.

“Doug was instrumental in helping to guide the strategic direction of Dayton Hudson Corporation for many years and institutionalize the values that are at the heart of Target Corporation today,” says Gregg Steinhafel, president and CEO, Target.

According to an obituary prepared by his family, Douglas Dayton left the Target presidency in 1968 and returned to help run the Dayton Hudson department store parent company. That business eventually was consolidated into Target Corp. Dayton left the company in 1974 and formed a venture capital firm. He retired in 1994 but remained active in a number of charitable and philanthropic groups.