Dillard's history

In March 1948, Dillard sold T.J. Dillard's and upped his stake in Wooten's to 40 percent, changing its name to Wooten & Dillard Inc.

Ready to expand again in 1955, Dillard bought a 7,500-square-foot Magnolia, Arkansas, store from a family friend.

With the help of friends, bankers, and other investors, Dillard raised $325,000 and in February 1960 bought the store.

In 1961, as Dillard was consolidating Brown-Dunkin, he formed Dillard Investment Company, Inc.

In the fall of 1963, the Mayer & Schmidt store bought the Pfeifer store.

In February 1964, Gus Blass Co. allowed Dillard to buy the 192,000-square-foot Little Rock store and a 61,000-square-foot store at Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

In 1969, Dillard turned to the stock market.

The year 1973 marked the beginning of Dillard's border operations.

In February 1978, the board approved the sale of $24 million worth of Class A stock to Vroom en Dreesmann's subsidiary, Vendamerica B.V. The sale took place in three annual installments and gave Vendamerica 55 percent of the Class A shares.

In 1979, Dillard used Vendamerica's first installment to build four new stores and remodel several older ones.

The three Memphis stores were a part of the record 11 new Dillard's opened in 1982.

High stock prices reduced the company's financial flexibility, and in 1983 it embarked on a series of stock splits.

By the end of 1984, Dillard's sales had increased 50.7 percent to $1.27 billion.

1985: Twelve stores are acquired from the R.H. Macy Company.

For $225 million, Campeau sold Dillard's 27 Joske's department stores and three Cain-Sloan department stores in 1987.

1989: New Orleans-based D.H. Holmes Company, a chain of 17 stores located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, is acquired.

While for many retailers, 1990 was a disastrous year, Dillard's experienced some unique gains.

Also in 1991, Vendamerica sold all of its shares in Dillard's in a public offering.

Profits, meanwhile, had increased only 2 percent over 1992.

Early in 1998, Dilard's announced plans to purchase rival retailer Mercantile Stores for $2.9 billion, acquiring 103 separate locations in the transaction.

Business picked up toward the end of the year, however, and by March of 2001 the company reported fourth-quarter net income of $66 million, more than twice what it had been a year before.