Hennessy's

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D.J. Hennessy Company

Type of Company	Department store
Founded	1898 Butte, Montana
Headquarters	Billings, Montana
Industry	Retail
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Website	None

Hennessy's was an American department store owned by Mercantile Stores and was headquarted in Billings, Montana. When Mercantile Stores was acquired by Dillard's in 1998 the 100 year old name was retired in favor for Dillard's.

1 History
- 1.1 Early beginings
- 1.2 Expansion
2 Former locations

[edit] History

[edit] Early beginings

Hennessy's history began when Marcus Daly, a retailer from Butte, Montana, had a falling out with his business associate in Missoula, Montana, A.B. Hammond, Marcus Daly decided that Butte needed a store that would compete with Hammond's Missoula Mercantile to sell goods to miners in Butte and lumbermen in Missoula. He found fellow businessman, Danel Hennessy. Danel Hennessy owned and operated a successful store in Butte. With the clout of financial backing from Marcus Daly, Danel Hennessy hired Frederick Kees, and architect of Minneapolis, to design one of Butte's most elegant buildings.

The store opened for business in 1898. Inside the store, shoppers found marble staircases, oak counters, and solid bronze balustrades. They also found every type of merchandise in 17 departments that filled the basement level and the first three floors. When it opened, the store employed 200 people.

[edit] Expansion

Hennessy's started expanding out of Butte including stores in Missoula, Billings, and Helena. The chain was acquired by Mercantile Stores in the early 1980s and it's headquarters was moved to the Billings sometime in the 1970s. Mercantile Stores was acquired by Dillard's, which at the time was a major retail acquision, and the Hennessy's name was dropped in favor for Dillard's. The flagship Butte store was closed before the acquision.