Target Corp. Drops Dayton's and Hudson's Brands in Favor of Marshall Field's

MINNEAPOLIS-Target Corp. is changing the names of its department stores to Marshall Field’s and dropping the names Dayton’s and Hudson’s. Target Corp. confirmed Friday that it is changing the name of all of its department stores, which include 19 Dayton’s stores and 21 Hudson’s stores locally, to Marshall Field’s stores, which has 24 stores.

In 1990, the former Dayton Hudson (now Target) bought Marshall Field’s, the Chicago-based department store. A year ago, Dayton and Hudson were dropped when the corporate name was changed from the Dayton Hudson to Target Corp., a reflection that the Target discount stores now accounted for about 80% of sales.

“We’re doing it to strengthen our brand and competitive position as a national department store,” says Melissa Stark, a Target spokeswoman. Target says it wanted to develop a strong, national brand for its department store division, and of the three names, Marshall Field’s clearly has the most national recognition, Stark said.