{"id":"f3e75297-a248-4678-b72d-7fda28714e53","slug":"douglas-dayton","name":"Douglas Dayton","bioBrief":"American retail executive (1924–2013); founder and first president of [Target](/companies/target), opening the first Target discount store in 1962 as a division of the Dayton's department store company. Youngest of George Nelson Dayton's five sons who ran the family's downtown Minneapolis department store. He shepherded Target's growth until 1968, then left to lead Dayton Hudson Corporation's other retail ventures.","priorExits":null,"nationality":"American","verificationPosture":"verified","aliases":[],"sources":[{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Corporation","name":"Wikipedia","title":"Target Corporation — Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Dayton","title":"Douglas Dayton — Wikipedia","sourceName":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://corporate.target.com/news-features/article/2013/07/a-vision-on-target-remembering-doug-dayton","title":"A vision on Target: remembering Doug Dayton","sourceName":"Target Corporation"},{"url":"https://www.postbulletin.com/business/target-founder-douglas-dayton-dies-at-88","title":"Target founder Douglas Dayton dies at 88","sourceName":"Post Bulletin"}],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","createdAt":"2026-08-15T03:00:50.347Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-16T15:28:33.693Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"a0fa4ff2-e0d3-4a16-8fa6-42ac70f288fc","personId":"f3e75297-a248-4678-b72d-7fda28714e53","companyId":"58e47342-4196-49d4-ba31-d2da733efd9f","role":"founder","roleTitle":"Co-Founder of Target stores / First President","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":false,"roleBasis":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-15T03:00:51.364Z","company":{"slug":"target","name":"Target Corporation"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[{"id":"914af007-e5f3-4a47-a8f3-455e7fb89e7c","personId":"f3e75297-a248-4678-b72d-7fda28714e53","companyId":"58e47342-4196-49d4-ba31-d2da733efd9f","foundingDate":null,"cofounderStatus":null,"stillAtCompany":false,"createdAt":"2026-08-16T15:28:34.832Z","company":{"slug":"target","name":"Target Corporation"}}]}