Venture Stores

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For the Australian chain of the same name, see Venture (department store).
Venture Stores, Inc.
Founded1968; 56 years ago (1968) St. Louis, Missouri
DefunctJuly 15, 1998; 25 years ago (1998-07-15)
FateBankruptcy
HeadquartersO'Fallon, Missouri
Key people
Robert Wildrick, Julian Seeherman
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, and housewares.
Number of employees
10,000
Websitewww.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.

History

The chain was founded in 1968 when

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

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."[

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

By the late 1990s, the chain found that it was unable to compete against other retail chains, such as

Burlington Coat Factory.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ a b "Discount pioneer Geisse dead at 71 - John Geisse - Obituary retailing career". Discount Store News. Geisse.org. 16 March 1992. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  2. ^ a b c d "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.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venture_Stores&oldid=1216923448"