Jump to content

Venture Discount Stores


IronTiger

Recommended Posts

Anyone remember Venture, the discount store that made a brief stand in Houston (1993-1997), only reaching 10 stores at its peak, all selling out to Kmart?

I was reading somewhere on its odd choices in marketing: pushing clothing over other discount store goods, and trying too hard to push the Texas spin. Quote from "Pleasant Family Shopping" (which is quoted from another publication):

The focus here would be on “micromarketing”, a beloved term at Venture of late, where merchandise assortments for each store were finely tuned to the local buying audience. (As if that weren’t already required in their existing markets, we’re left to surmise.) For the Texas stores, apparently, this meant home décor themed with “cowboy boot, coyote and armadillo designs” in wall art and on throw pillows, and “leather handbags with ‘Texas’ boldly embossed on the front”, according to an August 1993 Discount Store News article.

I don't know what happened to Venture's 10 stores post-Kmart: the only one I know of is the Burlington Coat Factory off of 290, that was an old Kmart/Venture, and possibly something before that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone remember Venture, the discount store that made a brief stand in Houston (1993-1997), only reaching 10 stores at its peak, all selling out to Kmart?

I was reading somewhere on its odd choices in marketing: pushing clothing over other discount store goods, and trying too hard to push the Texas spin. Quote from "Pleasant Family Shopping" (which is quoted from another publication):

I don't know what happened to Venture's 10 stores post-Kmart: the only one I know of is the Burlington Coat Factory off of 290, that was an old Kmart/Venture, and possibly something before that.

Ashley Furniture, across from Baybrook Mall was originally a Venture store and so was the Target store at Meyerland. Another Venture location was also in Texas City.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ashley Furniture, across from Baybrook Mall was originally a Venture store and so was the Target store at Meyerland. Another Venture location was also in Texas City.

That location in Texas City started out as a Woolco, then became a WalMart, then Venture, then Kmart(which basicly moved from across the street). The building has now been repurposed by BP to house several administrative departments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a Venture at Beechnut and Bltwy 8. I think it is now an Asian grocery. It's across the street from HEB.

Also, there was a Venture at Hwy 6 and Westheimer. It was next to the Builders Square that was there. Can't remember if it is the flooring store or the building next to it.

The Meyerland Target is on the site of the old Venture/K-Mart. When they elected to put a Target there about 80% of the building was destroyed to build Target. The foundation was not totally removed. If you walk the front aisle between the cash stations and the merchandise you will see the flooring falling apart and uneven. A real estate friend tells me the foundation is cracked and Wolfe didn't disclose to Target until too late to demo the foundation. So Target is living with it until they build a new Target to replace it.

Venture was not a fit for Houston and when Kohl's moved to Houston a lot of people thought it would go the way of Venture. These were mid-west companies trying to break out of their mold. Venture failed, Kohl's succeeded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sugar Land location was one of the first major tenants in the Market at Town Square when it opened in 1997 at the intersection of Highway 6 & the Southwest Freeway. It didn't last all that long, naturally. Seemed like a Target more than anything else.

Not too long after it closed, it became a Big KMart. When KMart closed, the space was subdivided into 4 stores including a DSW Shoe Warehouse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was also a Venture store where I grew up on the 249 side of 1960 right at I45 and 1960 in the shopping center next to the one where the Kroger is currently located. What that location is now I'm not sure. I know it was very close to a CompUSA who may have moved into the building but if not they were very close in proximity to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Bit of a late response, but thanks! I've been poking around in Houston a bit more, and exploring that strip center which has the Burlington and now seems to have come back to life (Joe V's where Service used to be), but the strip center appears to have been built in the 1980s, of which Venture wasn't a part of Houston then, so the Burlington was originally something else. Another discount store, perhaps? Not Woolco, but perhaps an early Wal-Mart, perhaps a Sage?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bit of a late response, but thanks! I've been poking around in Houston a bit more, and exploring that strip center which has the Burlington and now seems to have come back to life (Joe V's where Service used to be), but the strip center appears to have been built in the 1980s, of which Venture wasn't a part of Houston then, so the Burlington was originally something else. Another discount store, perhaps? Not Woolco, but perhaps an early Wal-Mart, perhaps a Sage?

I think it was mentioned here before as being a Big-K (K-mart).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know it was a Kmart after Venture (late 1990s-early 2000s), as Kmart bought a load of their stores, but because of the age of the center, and the timing of Venture (early 1990s), something else had to come before Venture, so the "chain of chains" would be

??? --> Venture --> Big Kmart --> Burlington Coat Factory

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Venture was not a fit for Houston and when Kohl's moved to Houston a lot of people thought it would go the way of Venture. These were mid-west companies trying to break out of their mold. Venture failed, Kohl's succeeded.

I was thinking about this a few weeks ago. A lot of businesses have done well in other markets, but failed in Houston. Its possible that the very thing that allowed some business to flourish may be hurting others. Houston and Texas for that matter is known for being business friendly. This is in part because of lack of zoning laws and regulation. This creates more competition which can take business away from other stores. I've heard that Stop n Go, 7-11 and Circle K didn't make it in Houston because there are so many convenience stores and gas stations. I mean if you want to open one and have the cash you can just about anywhere. The same with just about every other business. In other places everything is planed out and you have to go through a lot of hassle if you want to move into an area. In some places current business will fight to keep the new guy from coming in and will secede. K-mart and others would rather have stores in areas where they don't have many to complete with them. Kohl's has likely succeeded in Houston because there are really not a lot of stores like them outside of the malls.

Of course this is just my theory and there are other factors such as demographics. As for Venture they went under completely and you can't blame that on Houston alone. If they thought that a city like Houston would want western themed stuff this proves they had bigger problems lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

That strip Center at 290 and 43rd was built in the 90's. my office was right there at 290 and Hollister. The center had K Mart, because it moved from 34th where the Randalls is now. Service Merchandise, Toys R Us. Plus Sizes and a nail shop. That Toys R Us might have lasted about 6 or 8 years. Service Closed in 2000 and K Mart I think in 2002.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

There was also a Venture store where I grew up on the 249 side of 1960 right at I45 and 1960 in the shopping center next to the one where the Kroger is currently located. What that location is now I'm not sure. I know it was very close to a CompUSA who may have moved into the building but if not they were very close in proximity to it.

I was a little kid when that shopping center was built. There was some kind of office building on that land, which seemed to be torn down abruptly, desks and paperwork still in the building.

The original lineup of the shopping center was (left to right) Baby Superstore, OfficeMax & FurnitureMax, Kroger Signature, CompUSA, Venture.

Baby Superstore changed to Babies R Us. OfficeMax closed, then Office Depot rented the space. FurnitureMax was sublet to some off brand place. CompUSA of course shut down and now I think it's a thrift store. Venture became Kmart which became Vacant which almost became a furniture store which is now Vacant.

Kroger persevered, ultimately taking down the Randalls and subsequently running a de-facto grocery monopoly in the vicinity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to Venture Discount Stores

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...