Venture Stores

Last updated
Venture Stores, Inc.
Company typeDefunct
NYSE: VEN
Industry Retail (Department & Discount)
Founded1968;56 years ago (1968) St. Louis, Missouri
DefunctJuly 15, 1998;25 years ago (1998-07-15)
Fate Bankruptcy
Headquarters O'Fallon, Missouri
Key people
Robert Wildrick, Julian Seeherman
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, and housewares.
Number of employees
10,000
Website www.venturestores.com (archived at Deadmalls.com)

Venture Stores, Inc. was a chain of retail stores aimed at the discount department-store market. John Geisse, formerly of Target Stores, and May Department Stores' executive vice president, Dave Babcock, founded the chain in 1968. Venture Stores expanded to operate over 70 stores with major market share in St. Louis, Chicago, and Kansas City, and expanded across various areas in the United States over a period of nearly 30 years, becoming the largest discount chain in Chicago. In January 1998, Venture Stores entered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed within six months.

Contents

History

The chain was founded in 1968 when Target founder John F. Geisse went to work for May Department Stores. [1] Under an antitrust settlement reached with the Department of Justice, May was unable to acquire any more retail chains at the time, and the department-store company needed a way to compete against the emerging discount-store chains. When May's Dave Babcock learned that Geisse had resigned from Target Stores, he spoke with Geisse about starting a new discount retailer, resulting in the founding of Venture.

The first Venture store opened in Overland, Missouri on January 29, 1970, with a second location in Fairview Heights, Illinois opening on March 24, 1970. In 1976, Geisse retired and left Venture Stores, which had by that time expanded to 20 units. [1]

In 1978, Venture Stores purchased 23 Turn Style locations in the Chicago area from Jewel food stores, and expanded to over 40 locations in the Chicago market area, with many city locations. [2] It was the largest discount chain in Chicago with inner-city locations other than Zayre/Ames.[ citation needed ] In 1990, Venture separated from May and became a private corporation. [2]

Venture's advertising slogan during the 1980s was "Save at Venture, Save With Style". or "SWS". [2] In the 1990s, Venture employed two other slogans; the first, tied to a companywide remodeling initiative aimed at making the stores more like Kohl's, was "See What's New For You!". At the time Venture closed, its slogan was "See What A Little Money Can Buy".

Dining

As was a common trend in American department stores, many Venture stores offered a dining area inside the store, typically called Cafe Venture. This area sold standard American fare, such as hamburgers and pizza, although one could also get a "hot dog with the ends cut off."[ clarification needed ][ original research? ][ citation needed ] The dining area also contained a second area that sold popcorn, pretzels, and Icee drinks.

Corporate affairs

The Venture corporate headquarters were located in O'Fallon, Missouri. [3]

Bankruptcy

Sign for the Venture store in Davenport, Iowa, in January 1998 VentureSign.jpg
Sign for the Venture store in Davenport, Iowa, in January 1998

By the late 1990s, the chain found that it was unable to compete against other retail chains, such as Kmart, Target, and Wal-Mart. [4] Venture tried to return to its founding principles as an upscale discounter and remodeled most of its 90+ stores.[ citation needed ] While facing vast competition, Venture made a fatal mistake trying to expand into Texas instead of protecting its core markets.[ citation needed ] Venture sold the Texas stores to Kmart in 1996 and closed its distribution center in Corsicana, Texas. The company entered chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 20, 1998, and tried to operate with a smaller number of stores. The effort was not successful, and the company announced its closing on April 27, 1998. Liquidation of store inventory continued through July 1998.[ citation needed ] Most of the former Venture buildings were absorbed into other chains, primarily Kmart (for their new Big Kmart stores at the time), [2] Others were absorbed by Kohl's, ShopKo, and Burlington Coat Factory.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewel-Osco</span> American supermarket chain

Jewel-Osco is a regional supermarket chain in the Chicago metropolitan area, headquartered in Itasca, a western suburb. In 2007, the company had 188 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana. Jewel-Osco has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Boise-based Albertsons since 1999. The company originally started as a door-to-door coffee delivery service before it expanded into delivering non-perishable groceries and later into grocery stores, and supermarkets. Prior to its 1984 acquisition by American Stores, Jewel evolved into a large multi-state holding company that operated several supermarket chains and other non-food retail chain stores located from coast to coast and had operated under several different brand names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kmart</span> American retailing company

Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is an online retailer in the United States and operates six remaining Kmart big-box department stores — 3 in the US Virgin Islands and one each in Kendale Lakes, Florida ; Bridgehampton, Long Island; and Tamuning, Guam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypermarket</span> Big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store

A hypermarket is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term hypermarket was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kohl's</span> American department store chain

Kohl's is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. It currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwell Kohl, who opened a corner grocery store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1927. It went on to become a successful chain in the local area, and in 1962 the company branched out by opening its first department store. British American Tobacco Company took a controlling interest in the company in 1972 while still managed by the Kohl Family, and in 1979, the corporation was sold to BATUS Inc. A group of investors purchased the company in 1986 from British American Tobacco and took it public in 1992.

Gemco was an American chain of membership department stores that was owned by San Leandro-based Lucky Stores, a California supermarket company which eventually became part of Albertsons. Gemco operated from 1959 until closing in late 1986. A number of the west coast stores leases were sold to Target which fueled their entry into California. Gemco had a version called Memco, also owned by Lucky Stores, that operated stores in the Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., areas.

A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs.

Waldenbooks was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain operated by the Walden Book Company, Inc., and from 1995 was a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware, as well as a children's educational toy chain under Walden Kids. In 2011, the chain was liquidated in bankruptcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldor</span> Defunct chain of US discount department stores

Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as "the Bloomingdale's of discounting," Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chester, New York, into a regional retailing giant. Its stores were earning over $1 billion in sales by the time Carl Bennett retired in 1985, by which time Caldor was a subsidiary of Associated Dry Goods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shopko</span> Defunct chain of retail stores

Shopko was a chain of department stores based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. All locations closed on June 23, 2019, with the exception of the Shopko Optical locations, which continue to operate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zayre</span> Defunct discount retailer in the United States

Zayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores to the competing Ames Department Stores, Inc. chain. In June 1989, Zayre Corp. merged with one of its subsidiaries, The TJX Companies, parent company of T.J. Maxx, which still exists today. A number of stores retained the Zayre name until 1990, by which time all stores were either closed or converted into Ames stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big-box store</span> Physically large retail establishment

A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Target Australia</span> Australian discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers

Target Australia Pty Ltd is a department store chain owned by Australian retail conglomerate Wesfarmers. Target stocks clothing, cosmetics, homewares, electronics, books, and toys selling both in-store and online. The company's head office is located in the Melbourne suburb of Williams Landing which the company moved to in 2018. Despite the identical logo, name and similar type of outlets, Target Australia carries no direct relation or affiliation to the American big box retailer Target Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Front</span> American chain of discount stores

White Front was a chain of discount department stores in California and the western United States from 1959 through the mid-1970s. The stores were noted for the architecture of their store fronts which was an enormous, sweeping archway with the store name spelled in individual letters fanned across the top.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Walmart</span> History of American retail corporation

The history of Walmart, an American discount department store chain, began in 1950 when businessman Sam Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and opened Walton's 5 & 10. The Walmart chain proper was founded in 1962 with a single store in Rogers, expanding inside Oklahoma by 1968 and throughout the rest of the Southern United States by the 1980s, ultimately operating a store in every state of the United States, plus its first stores in Canada, by 1995. The expansion was largely fueled by new store construction, although the chains Mohr-Value and Kuhn's Big K were also acquired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Geisse</span> American businessman (1920–1992)

John Francis Geisse was an American businessman. He founded three successful retail chains: Target Discount Stores, Venture Stores, and The Wholesale Club.

Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-largest retailing company in the United States in 2015. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, and sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019. The new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transform Holdco LLC and after that, Sears Holdings Corporation was closed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaway Mall</span> Shopping mall in Ontario, Canada

Seaway Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Welland, Ontario, Canada. The mall has 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of space and includes tenants such as Sport Chek, Cineplex Entertainment, Winners and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Douglas James Dayton was an American retail executive, businessman, and philanthropist and heir to the Dayton's Company fortune who was the co-founder of the Target discount stores chain. Dayton ran Target's operations during its early years and served as the company's first president. He started his career at the family company: Dayton's department stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Target Corporation</span>

The history of Target Corporation first began in 1902 by George Dayton. The company was originally named Goodfellow Dry Goods in June 1902 before being renamed the Dayton's Dry Goods Company in 1903 and later the Dayton Company in 1910. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 while the parent company was renamed the Dayton Corporation in 1967. It became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation after merging with the J.L. Hudson Company in 1969 and held ownership of several department store chains including Dayton's, Hudson's, Marshall Field's, and Mervyn's. In 2000, the Dayton-Hudson Corporation was renamed to Target Corporation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Discount pioneer Geisse dead at 71 - John Geisse - Obituary retailing career". Discount Store News. Geisse.org. 16 March 1992. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Save At Venture...Save With Style!". pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com. November 30, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  3. "VENTURE STORES, INC. REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE AND APRIL SALES RESULTS". Venture Stores. 1998-01-30. Archived from the original on 1998-01-30. Retrieved 2021-05-05. 2001 East Terra Lane O'Fallon, Missouri 63366-0110
  4. "History of Venture Stores Inc". Funding Universe. Retrieved August 2, 2018.