NY Post: Dillard's Might be Next

[Sammy00]

Most of you guys know more about this than I do, but it doesn't sound like good news to me :

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05212007/busin...anne_kapner.htm

[Aporkalypse]

This rumor has floated around for years but it's probably just coming up again because of Acxiom and Alltel. There are a lot of reasons Dillard's is different and I don't see it being a good private equity target.

[turboturtle]

This rumor has floated around for years but it's probably just coming up again because of Acxiom and Alltel. There are a lot of reasons Dillard's is different and I don't see it being a good private equity target.

[Aporkalypse]

Personally, I wouldn't miss Dillards. I bet my family has not spent $500 there in 10 years. 80 percent of that was my wife going to Origins. There are two things that give me a slightly more favorable opinion of Dillards today versus the past. One Bill Dillard senior passed and it does seem like Dillards may be slightly more involved in local events. I'd like to see this continue. The other reason is that Alltel and Acxiom are no longer Arkansas-owned.

I am cautiously optimistic that the accumulation of stock by Alltel and Acxiom employees, could translate to a significant influx of wealth in LR. Along with it may come new and interesting economic development phenomena as individuals make investments. Perhaps there will be some entrepreneurial endeavors that could become a positive effect caused by the buyouts. On the other hand, there could also be a glut of houses on the market in WLR a year from now. I am interested to see what the "trickle down" (I'm gagging on my own words) effect will be.

[Architect]

Personally, I wouldn't miss Dillards. I bet my family has not spent $500 there in 10 years. 80 percent of that was my wife going to Origins. There are two things that give me a slightly more favorable opinion of Dillards today versus the past. One Bill Dillard senior passed and it does seem like Dillards may be slightly more involved in local events. I'd like to see this continue. The other reason is that Alltel and Acxiom are no longer Arkansas-owned.

I am cautiously optimistic that the accumulation of stock by Alltel and Acxiom employees, could translate to a significant influx of wealth in LR. Along with it may come new and interesting economic development phenomena as individuals make investments. Perhaps there will be some entrepreneurial endeavors that could become a positive effect caused by the buyouts. On the other hand, there could also be a glut of houses on the market in WLR a year from now. I am interested to see what the "trickle down" (I'm gagging on my own words) effect will be.

[turboturtle]

Whether or not you like/shop at Dillard's shouldn't have any bearing on whether or not you want a $8B company to die/relocate from this market.

[CentralArkansas]

You're probably right, though there are examples where the size of annual revenue would be of secondary importance.

[Aporkalypse]

There would be nothing positive about potentially losing the many white-collar jobs that dillard's brings to Little Rock.

I agree with Architect, simply because you don't shop there doesn't mean that you shouldn't care if the company gets bought out. I doubt you contract shipping services from JB Hunt, does that mean you wouldn't care if they left Arkansas?

[arkansas_buff]

I agree. Hell, I've never had any reason to use an Acxiom product and I obviously care about keeping their jobs in LR.

[Aporkalypse]

I use Acxiom products all the time... like switchboard.com, yellowpages.com, infospace.com, etc.

[arkansas_buff]

I use yellowpages.com and whitepages.com, that's true.

Still, you get my point.

[freckles]

One thing I think all of us have noticed is while the Stephens are tremendous givers to the community and companies like Alltel and Acxiom have been good corporate citizens over the years Dillard's and the Dillard family really haven't done much for the community or for charities.

[Aporkalypse]

They do give tremendously, but they do so in the spirit of giving, not in the spirit of what it will do for their corporate image, which is why you don't hear about it.

[turboturtle]

They do give tremendously, but they do so in the spirit of giving, not in the spirit of what it will do for their corporate image, which is why you don't hear about it.