Marshall Field's Brand Is Expanding

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â€” Target Corp. said Friday that it will convert all it Dayton's and Hudson's department stores to the Marshall Field's name to increase the company's brand and strengthen

Friday, January 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â€” Target Corp. said Friday that it will convert all it Dayton's and Hudson's department stores to the Marshall Field's name to increase the company's brand and strengthen its competitive position.

``We selected Marshall Field's name because it is known worldwide and represents our largest business,'' said Linda Ahlers, president of Dayton's, Marshall Field's, Hudson's.

``One name gives us the opportunity to focus on a single brand at all levels of our business,'' she said. ``This is particularly important for our Internet initiatives and the launch of our online gift registry that give us a presence beyond the markets where we have stores. These initiatives will be strengthened by a national brand.''

The company said it will make no significant changes in how it operates its 60 full-line department stores and 4 home stores.

The Dayton and Hudson names are slowly disappearing from retailing. The J.L. Hudson Co. was founded in Detroit in 1881; The Dayton Co. was founded in 1902 in Minneapolis. The two grew into Dayton Hudson Corp. in 1969. To reflect its biggest and fastest-growing division, Dayton Hudson changed its name to Target Corp. a year ago.

Dayton's, Marshall Field's, Hudson's have annual revenues of more than $3 billion and about 35,000 employees.

Parent Target Corp. had 2000 revenues of $33.7 billion and has more than 200,000 employees. Target operates 1,309 stores, including 978 Target stores, 267 Mervyn's stores and its 64 department stores.

Dayton's stores are located in Minnesota (12), North Dakota (3), South Dakota (1) and Wisconsin (3). The 21 Hudson's stores are all in Michigan. The Marshall Field's stores are in Illinois (17), Indiana (2), Ohio (3) and Wisconsin (2).

Shares of Target were up $1.44 to $34.88 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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On the Net:

http://www.target.com