A Heritage Spanning More Than Six Decades.
Dillard Door’s proud and longstanding history extends from the bright lights of Madison Avenue to the familiar sights of the Memphis skyline. What was once a small business focused primarily on selling glass doors has grown into an enterprise that now offers the most advanced security solutions available today.
1940’s
John Dillard Sr. – like many Americans after World War II – was focused on new endeavors.
Mr. Dillard’s Southern Glass company at 556 Madison Ave. forged its first connection with the door industry – representing Crawford Door Co. – a manufacturer of sectional overhead doors.
1950’s
In the 1950’s, the new Dillard Door division of Southern Glass began operation. The company added to its product line: Pella, ModernFold, and Slide-View doors.
In addition to representing door manufacturers, Dillard Door began building custom industrial doors for special applications, such as “double-acting” doors …..
…… and overhead one-piece doors.
1960’s through the 1970’s
In the late 1950’s to early 1960’s, the company was known as Doors Inc., and represented the Windsor Door Co.
In 1964, John W. Dillard Jr. joined the firm, taking charge of manufacturing.
Soon , the owners formed J. W. Dillard & Co. – which continued manufacturing – and also represented the North American Door Corporation, a major manufacturer of coiling doors.
In 1974, the company name was changed to Dillard Door and Specialty Co. – which discontinued manufacturing, to concentrate on representing North American Door Co. and Atlas Door Corp.
1980’s
In 1981, Dillard Door formed its Advanced Automated Entrances division, and began its association with Horton Automatics – a major manufacturer of automatic pedestrian doors.
Dillard Door also began installing and servicing automatic vehicle gates.
As the company’s reputation for excellence grew, other manufacturers began to market their products in Memphis thru Dillard Door – now located at 788 East Street.
1990’s
In the 1990’s, Advanced Automated Entrances was sold, and in 1998 Entrance Control Systems division was formed to specialize in automatic gate systems, access controls, and closed-circuit TV cameras.
2000’s
In October 2002, the Dillard family sold their company to Chris W. Bird, and it’s name was changed to Dillard Door & Security.
Today
Today, Chris Bird and his team at Dillard Door and Entrance Control continue the fine tradition of service excellence and integrity that the Mid-South has come to expect from the Dillard name.
