Purdy-Kresge Library all divisions into one general library. The merger began with the renovation of the General Library which was renamed the Purdy Kresge Library and all services were stationed on the first floor. In September 1969, Purdy passed but his name will live on at Wayne State University. In 1972, the Wayne State Board of Governors supported the renaming of the General Library as the G. Flint Purdy Library because of his dedication to libraries and Wayne State University. The Purdy-Kresge Library is also named after Sebastian S. Kresge. Kresge was the founder of the S.S. Kresge Company. The company started
Department store Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis. George Dayton had founded his Dayton's Dry Goods store in Minneapolis in 1902 and the AMC cooperative in 1912. His descendants built Southdale Center in 1956, opened the Target discount store chain in 1962 and the B. Dalton Bookseller chain in 1966. Dayton's grew to 19 stores under the Dayton's name plus five other regional names acquired by Dayton-Hudson. The Dayton-Hudson Corporation closed the flagship J. L. Hudson Department Store in downtown Detroit in 1983, but expanded its other retail operations. It acquired Mervyn's in 1978, Marshall Field's in 1990, and renamed itself the Target Corporation