My great-grandaunt Anna Swenson-Anderson (second from the right) is shown in the first image seated with her husband Nels Anderson (far left), their son 𝗘𝗹𝘄𝘆𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 (far right) and his first wife Marie (second from the left). This photograph from my great-grandmother’s photo album was taken in about 1930, just a few years after Elwyn had started his 42-year career at Dayton’s. He was elected vice president of the company in 1955 and was among the executives who launched the first Target store in 1962.

Elwyn grew up on the 200-acre family farm, in section 14 of Bertha township, located one mile south of Bertha, Minnesota. In those days, it was uncommon for children in rural areas to continue school past the eighth grade yet Elwyn pursued his education. He attended the high school in Fergus Falls by moving there and staying with his uncle during the school year. He was under pressure to quit school and work on the farm but a Hamline University alumnus in Bertha encouraged him to go to college.

He enrolled at Hamline University and joined Phi Delta fraternity in 1920. (The second image was the Phi Delta fraternity house on Hewitt Avenue.) While at college, he met Marie Radabaugh who was also attending the university. After graduating with a business degree in 1924, Elwyn was hired by Dayton’s to manage the newly opened University Store on 14th Avenue near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. He was heralded by the newspaper as “one of the rising young business men of Minneapolis.”

Elwyn married Marie on August 19, 1928. Then he was transferred to the Dayton’s flagship location, originally a 6-story department store on the corner of 7th and Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis before a 12-story addition was completed in 1929. Marie gave birth to their son, John, on Christmas Eve in 1934. Little more than a year later, Marie was suffering from abdominal pains. She was admitted to Asbury hospital with appendicitis and underwent surgery to have her appendix and gallstones removed. She developed an infection after the operation and passed away on February 6, 1936. Elwyn was left a widower with a one-year-old infant son to raise.

Competition in retail increased sharply during the Great Depression which prompted many department store chains to open “bargain basements” where merchandise was sold at discount prices. The bargain basement at Dayton’s was renamed the Downstairs Store. When founder George Draper Dayton died in 1938, his son George Nelson Dayton succeeded him as president of the company. Elwyn was promoted to divisional merchandise manager of the Downstairs Store and eventually became the general merchandise manager.

Dime stores like Woolworth’s and Kresge’s also thrived during the Depression era. Sebastian Kresge opened the first variety store in America’s first suburban shopping center on January 5, 1929. By 1938, he had 742 stores, primarily in the Midwest and Northeast. Elwyn remarried in 1942 to Charlotte Shogren. She gave birth to their daughter, Diane, in 1945. When World War II ended, millions of soldiers returned home, got married, and started the baby boom, but there was practically no housing available. The first modern suburbs were created to meet the surge in demand.

New methods in mass production made it possible to build homes faster and cheaper than ever before. Due to low housing costs and G.I. Bill benefits, even working-class Americans with modest incomes could afford to own a home in the suburbs. In the postwar era, many families moved from the city to the suburbs in pursuit of the American Dream. The mass migration was a defining feature of American life after 1945. The movement intensified as automobiles were becoming more widely used and highway infrastructure was developed, making it feasible to live in the suburbs and commute to work in the cities.

As Americans continued to move from the city to the suburbs, the retailers followed. They constructed suburban shopping centers or strip malls where residents could shop without having to travel downtown. These were anchored by two or three large department stores with rows of small open-air independent shops and restaurants in between. Kresge’s expansion into such centers began in 1947. He opened one of his stores in a suburban shopping center that year, followed by three more in 1948.

George Nelson Dayton’s five sons – Donald, Bruce, Wallace, Kenneth, and Douglas – took over the family business in 1948. The eldest, Donald Dayton, was named president of the company. Two years later, their father died. Elwyn served as the usher at the funeral. Elwyn’s role continued to expand as he assumed additional responsibilities over several more departments in 1952. By this time, Dayton’s was making plans to introduce a new concept in retail. The vision was realized four years later when the company opened the world’s first indoor shopping mall, Southdale Center, in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis. Elwyn was later named the general manager.

By 1953, Kresge was operating about 40 stores in suburban shopping centers. Retail experienced a seismic shift from downtown to suburban shopping centers and Kresge was uniquely positioned to capitalize on the trend. Just a short drive from suburban homes, discount outlets offered ample parking, late hours, and convenience above all. In 1954, Elwyn was named head of the Downstairs Store. A year later, he was appointed the vice-president of Dayton’s. Among his other duties, he also served as the executive director of branch store operations.

After his promotion, Elwyn purchased a new home in Edina. The stone and clapboard Colonial-style house, located at 5117 Arden Avenue, featured a mahogany library, and was furnished with a a Knabe console piano, custom sofas, heritage and other upholstered chairs, mahogany desks, mahogany china cabinets, antique oak chairs, mahogany beds, and cedar chests. It was adorned with oriental-style rugs, Durand lamps, R.S. Prussia china, Limoge porcelain, antique clocks, watercolor paintings by F. Christian, Franciscan china, and other antiques.

By the end of 1961, Kresge was operating 276 shopping center stores in the United States and 30 in Canada. Dayton’s officials already sensed the growing threat from discounters like Kresge. A divisional merchandise manager of the Downstairs Store suggested the idea of an upscale discount store and, by 1961, there were plans to develop a new chain, conceptualized as a discount version of Dayton’s department stores. Dayton’s publicity director and his in-house team designed the name and logo for the new store. They brainstormed hundreds of possibilities before deciding on the name 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 with a bullseye logo.

On January 26, 1962, Dayton’s announced that its new subsidiary, Target, would open its first store at the intersection of Highway 36 and Snelling Avenue in Roseville, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. It was a momentous year for American retail. Kresge opened his first Kmart store on March 1, 1962. Target celebrated the grand opening of its first store in Roseville on May 1, 1962. (The third image is a full-page ad taken out in the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper.) Two months later, the first Walmart store opened. Many others jumped on the discount bandwagon. During its early period of rapid growth, discounting spread like wildfire through metropolitan areas all over the country almost to the point of oversaturation.

“Discounting is a part of a revolution in retailing,” Donald Dayton said in a rare public speech. “We subscribe to the spectrum theory of retailing,” he said. “At one end of the spectrum will be the top quality, fashion-right department store. At the other end will be the discount store.” Others believed that in the future you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a discount store and the suburban outlet of a downtown store. Some even predicted that retailing would evolve toward a “huge, all-purpose type of store.”

The first Target store in Roseville was 68,800 square feet and billed itself as a discount store that combined quality and service with more than seventy-five departments ranging from groceries to fashion. Three more Target stores were opened during its inaugural year. The second store opened at the Crystal Shopping Center on September 6 and the third store opened in Duluth a month later. The fourth store opened in St. Louis Park on October 31, 1962. Located on a 32 acre site adjacent to the Knollwood Shopping Center, it featured 125,000 square feet with a parking lot for 1,700 cars. By 1965, Dayton’s had 8,200 employees and the entire retail operation, including Target, exceeded other major retailers like Sears, Roebuck & Co., and J.C. Penney. National expansion plans were underway in 1966 as Target opened two new stores in Denver, Colorado.

As one of the top officials in the company, Elwyn Anderson played an early role in transforming the organization from a family-run department store chain into one of the nation’s largest discount store chains. He retired from Dayton’s on July 31, 1967 after more than four decades of service to the company. (The fourth image is a clipping from The Minneapolis Star newspaper article announcing his retirement.) Afterwards, he joined the United Way Foundation and helped direct fundraising campaigns. In his philanthropic work, he served on the boards of the Goodwill Industries and Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church. While involved in other charitable organizations, he also served as president of the Edina Rotary Club and president of the Hamline University Alumni Association.

Elwyn founded the Edina Human Relations Commission on October 7, 1968. He advocated for basic human rights and needs in the community by providing service, information and recommendations, cooperating with other groups and government agencies, and sponsoring community outreach events. In his efforts against discrimination and racial inequality, he created his legacy. On September 20, 1987, he died of respiratory failure at the age of 85 and was buried at Lakewood cemetery in Minneapolis.

Dayton’s bought Mervyn’s and Marshall Field’s. Then rebranded itself to Target in 2000 after profits from the Target division surpassed all of its other stores combined. Target succeeded where competitors like Montgomery Ward, Woolworth’s, and Newberry’s failed. What began as a single department store in Minneapolis has become a national discount empire. Today there are 1,948 Target stores across the United States with annual revenue of $109.12 billion dollars.