Target is a household name in the U.S. For decades, it’s been among the top retailers in the nation, and millions of Americans recognize the company’s iconic logo—a red bullseye target.
Target’s sales exceed $100 billion in revenue annually, and it’s ranked 8th in terms of sales by the National Retail Federation, an industry group. Target started out as a small store in Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century, and more than 100 years later, it’s among the leading discount retailers across the country.
Target’s origins: A short company history
Target began as a small discount retailer in Minnesota. According to Target’s history page, George Draper Dayton, a 24-year-old native New Yorker, partnered with a group of New York investors, and in 1881, moved to Worthington, Minnesota, to assess investment opportunities in the Midwest.
In 1902, after more than 20 years in banking and real estate, Dayton moved to Minneapolis (200 miles away) with his wife and four children and became a partner in Goodfellow Dry Goods Company. A year later, he bought out his partners, took sole ownership of the store, and appointed himself the first president of the newly named Dayton Dry Goods Company.
Under his leadership, the company experienced rapid growth and was renamed The Dayton Company, but it was more commonly known as Dayton’s department store, following the opening of a large department store in Minneapolis. Among Dayton’s innovations was using airplanes to carry goods and merchandise from New York amid a strike that threatened to empty store shelves.
Related: History of Costco: Company timeline and facts
Dayton stayed on until he died in 1938, and his son George N. Dayton became president. In 1950, the younger Dalton passed away, and he was succeeded by his son Donald C. Dayton. Under the founder’s grandson, Dayton expanded beyond downtown Minneapolis, including a large department store in 1954 and two years later the opening of Southdale Mall—which was the nation’s first fully enclosed, air-conditioned shopping center—in Minneapolis’s suburbs. His leadership led to significant changes within the company for growth.
At the same time that the company was expanding beyond its base, Dayton was looking for a new business model and found it in the form of what Target said was “a mass-market discount store that catered to value-oriented shoppers seeking a higher-quality experience.” President Dayton said that the company would draw from its decades of experience in retail and would find a way to combine quality with discount.
In the following years, the discount model would eventually overtake its traditional department store business.
Target’s logo
In 1962, in the months before the first Target store opened its doors, former Dayton’s Director of Publicity Stewart K. Widdess was responsible for naming and defining the new retail store. More than 200 potential names were considered, but “Target” prevailed, and the brand launched the first iteration of its modern logo: a white and red bullseye.
“As a marksman’s goal is to hit the center bulls-eye, the new store would do much the same in terms of retail goods, services, commitment to the community, price, value and overall experience,” Widdess was quoted as saying.
The first Bullseye logo was used from 1962 until it was streamlined in 1968 by removing one of the red concentric circles. During the mid-1970s, the Bullseye was further refined to the logo that Target’s customers know today.
Target’s history of championing diversity
Among firsts in the retailing industry and beyond, Target was among the earliest companies to promote women to executive roles in the 1970s. The company is also among the first to prioritize gender equality and to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
In 2025, the retailer scaled back on DEI, largely in line with President Trump’s rollback of such initiatives within the government at the start of his second term in office. This move sparked widespread criticism from some of the brand’s longtime customers, and an ongoing boycott ensued.
Target timeline: Key events and milestones over the years.
For simplification, the name “Target” is used exclusively in this timeline, even though the brand’s early names were Dayton and Dayton Hudson. The company would not officially take up Target as its corporate name until 2000. Most of the information was taken from Target’s historical timelines, including here. We lead with 1962, when Target started discount retailing, as the base year for the timeline.
1962: Target opens its first store in Roseville, Minnesota. By the end of the year, three additional locations open in the Twin Cities, and another opens in Duluth. Its logo comprises three concentric circles.
Target starts its Weekly Ad, and a decade later, it becomes an iconic staple in Sunday newspapers across the country.
1966: Target sets a national expansion plan and opens its first stores outside Minnesota, with two in Denver, Colorado.
1967: On October 18, Target (as Dayton Corporation) conducts an initial public offering at $34 a share. Its five autonomous divisions at the time were Dayton’s department stores, Target Stores (nine at the time), B. Dalton Bookseller, Dayton Jewelers, and Dayton Development Company.
In December, Target pays its first dividend, at 20 cents a share. Since then, the retailer has never missed paying a quarterly dividend.
1968: Target streamlines its iconic logo by reducing its two inner red concentric circles to one.
1969: The company changes its name to the Dayton Hudson Corporation following its merger with J.L. Hudson Company, a Detroit-based rival non-food retailer.
Target conducts its first stock split, giving stockholders two shares for every one owned. It would be the first of many stock splits in the company’s history.
The company publishes The Dayton Hudson Community Involvement Report, which is the predecessor to Target’s Corporate Responsibility Report. Activities supported by funds from Dayton Hudson were listed in three major categories: “Environmental and Social—Action Projects,” “Cultural Support,” and “Educational Support.” A total of $2.36 million is donated during the year to civic and charitable activities.
1970: Dayton Hudson participates in the first Earth Day celebration, as part of an environmentally conscious drive. Volunteers plant trees each and clean up parks in their local communities, and department store team members hand out pine trees to store guests. Soon after, company-wide recycling and energy-saving efforts are launched.
1975: Target stores become the biggest contributor to the company’s overall revenue, underpinning a shift in consumer demand toward discount retailing.
Target implements its store-wide 10% employee discount program, which continues to this day.
1979: Target achieves $1 billion in annual sales for the first time.
1983: Bruce B. Dayton and Kenneth N. Dayton retire from the Dayton-Hudson board of directors, ending 80 years of direct family involvement with the company.
1984: Target starts its own brand label, Honors, a clothing line for men, women, and children. It would be the first of many in-house Target-owned brands.
1989: Target opens its 400th store, marking a steady expansion across the U.S.—first in the Midwest, then in the South and the Southwest in the 1980s.
1990: The retailer buys Chicago-based department store Marshall Field’s, making Dayton Hudson the largest department store chain in the Midwest.
1992: Target’s annual revenue exceeds $10 billion for the first time.
1994: Target unveils its motto, often displayed below its logo: “Expect More. Pay Less.”
1995: Target opens its first SuperTarget store—a bigger store that includes a grocery section—in Omaha, Nebraska. It also launches its own store brand for grocery items: Archer Farms.
Target introduces its first store credit card, the Target Guest Card. It later releases the Target Visa Credit Card in 2001, which can be used at other retailers for purchases. Its credit card products would be renamed the Target RedCard in 2004.
1998: Target opens Target Plaza, a new office building complex for its headquarters, but the company is still based in Minneapolis.
1999: Target exceeds $1 billion in net income for the first time, with earnings at $1.1 billion on revenue of $33 billion. Market capitalization is over $32 billion at the end of the year, according to data compiled by CompaniesMarketCap.
1996: Target establishes its online presence with Target.com, but it doesn’t start its e-commerce site until 1999.
More on retail:
- Why a Costco membership makes sense for seniors & retirees
- What time does Sam’s Club open & close? The warehouse club’s hours explained
- Does Sam’s Club take EBT? How to use food stamps at the warehouse club
2000: The company officially names itself Target Corporation, from Dayton Hudson.
2003: Target establishes the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which begins as the Diversity Steering Committee in 2003.
2005: Target’s revenue exceeds $50 billion, with total revenue at $52.6 billion and net income at $2.4 billion.
2001: Target opens its 1,000th store. It operates in all states in the continental U.S. except Vermont.
2008: Target opens its first store outside the continental U.S., in Alaska. A year later, a store opens in Hawaii.
2010: Target opens a store in New York City, one of the most competitive retail markets in the country.
2013: Target expands into Canada, beginning with three stores in the Ontario province. By the end of the year, there will be 124 stores in operation, which Target says is its fastest expansion. By 2015, however, Target decides to close all 133 stores in Canada to focus on the U.S.
Target introduces its store pickup program, through which guests can order from more than 40,000 items online and pick them up at a nearby Target store in as little as a few hours. Target also tests a ship from store option, allowing guests to order online for same-day or next-day rush delivery, or faster standard delivery.
CVS takes over Target’s pharmacies and operates as CVS Health through a store-within-a-store format.
2017: Target initiates a corporate strategy to invest more than $7 billion over three years, including the remodeling of more than 1,000 stores by the end of 2020.
2018: Target opens its first store in the state of Vermont, and the retailer now operates in all 50 states.
2019: As part of its sustainability goals in climate and energy, Target aims to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
2020: Target responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for contactless delivery through same-day delivery using Shipt, Order Pickup, and Drive Up services.
Target increases its minimum wage to $15 an hour, which it says is more than 20% higher than the U.S. industry average.
2021: Target’s revenue exceeds $100 billion for the first time. Total revenue reaches $106 billion and net income hits a record $6.9 billion.
Target’s stock rises to a new record, closing at more than $260 a share in July. Market capitalization exceeds $129 billion.
2025: In March, Target unveils a strategic plan to drive more than $15 billion in sales growth by 2030. That includes enhancing the consumer experience, via online shopping and at its brick-and-mortar stores, and improving its supply chain to make goods easily accessible to customers.
In October, Target writes in a memo to employees that it plans to reduce its corporate workforce by 1,800 jobs, at a time when the company’s stock price has fallen, and it has faced backlash for pulling back from its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, according to Reuters.
2026: In late January, Target’s stock trades at around $108 a share, less than half its peak price set in 2021. Its market capitalization is around $49 billion. By comparison, Walmart’s market value is around $940 billion.
Target operates almost 2,000 stores across the U.S.
