Venture plans dollar stores - Venture Stores Inc. to launch Venture Dollar chain in December 1996

O'FALLON, MO. -- Point of view is everything. Some would say that Venture's plans to operate a separate chain of Venture Dollar stores is evidence of lost focus on the core business--or of desperation. Others attest that the move is proof of the staying power of this 26-year-old chain.

Venture Dollar is a test. It is too small at its germination to distract management from the core chain, but distinct enough for consumers to keep the two concepts apart. Venture Dollar is a low-cost, potentially high-margin, opportunistic tactic that reflects a fundamental strategy.
Chairman, president and ceo Bob Wildrick has long maintained that Venture would investigate and test new formats and tweak its mix to "leverage its resources." He has referred to the chain's new and modernized distribution centers as a "secret weapon."

With venture's comp store sales down 20% in the wake of its dramatic remerchandising one year ago, that secret weapon obviously has underutilized capacity. Venture has a DC in each major trading area: Chicago, St. Louis and the Texas DC near Dallas.

These will supply the nine Venture Dollar stores the chain will open during the first half of December in a variety of urban and rural markets. While Venture would not release the exact locations, senior vp, marketing Cliff Campeau told DSN that there will be three Venture Dollar stores supplied by each DC.

Carrying 2,500 to 3,000 skus of fast-turning, lower-priced, convenience-oriented items, the stores will range in footprint from 7,000 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft. By comparison, the average Venture discount store handles about 70,000 skus in a little more than 100,000 sq. ft. of space.