Exhibit 31(a)



                                          CERTIFICATIONS


I, William Dillard, II, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Dillard's, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
   state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
   such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this
   report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
   flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining
   disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
   registrant and have:

        (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
            designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
            consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

        (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
            report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of
            the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

        (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that
            occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably
            likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

 5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
    control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
    directors:

        (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
             financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
             process, summarize and report financial information; and

        (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant
             role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.




Date: December 8, 2004
                                                  /s/ William Dillard, II
                                                    William Dillard, II
                                     Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer