THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701110743
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
For a company whose stock is publicly traded, Dillard's behaves much like a private company. And there's no doubt over who's in control.
The man is William Dillard Sr., who founded Dillard Department Stores Inc. in 1938. Now 82, the conservative leader retains a vise-like grip on the company's affairs, observers say. And he shows no signs of stepping down, though he has handed over some duties to his children, they say.
When Dillard Department Stores went public in 1969, the senior Dillard set up two classes of stock. The Dillards own 99 percent of the Class B stock, which elects two-thirds of the company's directing board.
His sons - William Jr., Alex and Mike - and daughter Drue Corbusier are on the board. Another daughter, Denise, works for the company but is not on the directing board.
In Little Rock, Ark., and in the investment community, the Dillard corporate culture is regarded as prickly, hard-working and reclusive.
Twice, Dillard has pulled advertisements from Arkansas publications after unfavorable news stories. In 1991, Dillard bristled after the Arkansas Times poked fun at the retailer's new pink headquarters in Little Rock.
In the '80s, the retailer sniffed at a front-page article in the former Arizona Gazette and yanked its ads, said Max Brantley, who then worked at the newspaper and is now editor of the Arkansas Times.
Brantley, who has followed Dillard's for years, and other observers say the Dillard culture follows its founder's conservative lead.
``The Dillards are just kind of button-down,'' he said. ``They just work and work and work.''
The company generally does not return reporters' telephone calls. Financial analysts who follow Dillard's stock don't fare much better.
``They're not very outgoing, because they don't have to be,'' said an analyst who used to follow the company. ``They just don't care. They figure they're going to do what they want to do anyway.''
Kenneth M. Gassman, a retail analyst with Davenport & Co. in Richmond, said he wants to start covering Dillard. But if the company doesn't talk, he'll walk away, he said.
But observers acknowledge that the Dillards' tight-fisted control may be responsible for the company's health.
And even those who don't particularly care for the Dillards say the family knows its business.
Editor Brantley promised himself that he'd never shop again at Dillard's department stores after the company pulled ads from his small publication. That didn't last long, he acknowledged sheepishly.
``To their credit, they so dominate the better sector of the market in Little Rock that it's literally almost impossible not to shop at Dillard's,'' Brantley said. MEMO: [Related story also on page D1 of The Virginian-Pilot for this
date.] ILLUSTRATION: William Dillard Sr.
GRAPHIC
DILLARD DEPARTMENT STORES INC.
HEADQUARTERS: Little Rock, Ark.
CEO: William Dillard Sr.
NUMBER OF STORES: 250
LOCAL STORES: Opening in late 1997 will be Dillard's stores in
Chesapeake Square Mall, Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake, Pembroke Mall
in Virginia Beach, Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, plus two
stores in Coliseum Mall in Hampton. Dillard will have a massive
store in Norfolk's MacArthur Center which is scheduled to open in
1998.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 31,800
1995 SALES: $5.9 billion
1995 EARNINGS: $167.2 million
KEYWORDS: PROFILE