Cause of death Heart failure Role Businessman | Religion Episcopalian Resting place Little Rock Name William Dillard | |
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Occupation President, Chairman & CEO at Dillard's (1938–1998) Spouse(s) Alexa Latimer (m. June 9, 1940) Similar People Warren Stephens, J C Watts, Jackson T Stephens | ||
William t dillard sr 1999 arkansas business hall of fame inductee
William Thomas Dillard (September 2, 1914 – February 8, 2002) was an American businessman. He was the founder of the Dillard's Department Stores chain.
Contents
- William t dillard sr 1999 arkansas business hall of fame inductee
- Mr William T Dillard II Dillards
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life and death
- References
Mr William T Dillard II-Dillards
Early life
William T Dillard was born on September 2, 1914, to Thomas J. Dillard and Hattie Mae Gibson Dillard, both grocers. Dillard found employment with Sears & Roebuck Company where he gained experience in retail business. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Business Administration and earned a Master's Degree from Columbia University. He was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Career
Dillard returned to Arkansas and opened his first retail store in 1938 in the town of Nashville, Arkansas, after he borrowed US$8,000 from his father to sign the lease and install shelves, and stocking those shelves with merchandise supplied on generous credit, extended on the basis of wholesalers' long dealings with his father. In 1948, he sold his Nashville store and opened stores in Texas, followed by more stores across the Southern United States. In 1964, he opened his first store in a mall in Austin, Texas, and foreshadowed the boom of malls. In 1965, he opened more stores in malls in Little Rock, Arkansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He used computerized checkouts to track inventory. By the turn of the century, Dillard's Department Stores was the third largest department store chain in the United States. He retired in 1998. His eldest son, William T. Dillard II, took over as CEO and his second son, Alex Dillard, as President. His daughter, Drue Corbusier and Denise Mahaffy, and a third son, Mike Dillard, serve as Vice Presidents.
Personal life and death
Dillard married Alexa Latimer on June 9, 1940, and they had five children. He was an Episcopalian, and a Republican. He died at his home in Little Rock on February 8, 2002, at the age of 87 from heart failure.