Value City eyes expansion; plans 6 stores and new DC - Value City Department Stores, distribution center

Discount Store News, August 5, 1991

Value City Eyes Expansion; Plans 6 Stores and New DC

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Having recently completed an initial public offering of 3.75 million shares in which it raised $64 million, Value City Department Stores plans to open six stores and a distribution center in the next 12 months.

It has signed leases for stores in Pittsburgh; Springfield, Ohio; and the Grand Rapids, Mich., market.

George Kolber, vice president, administration, at Value City, said "we feel comfortable expanding anywhere within a 500 mile radius of our Columbus headquarters."

The first opening will be an 85,000-square-foot store in Wyoming, Mich., outside of Grand Rapids in September, followed by a 61,000-square-foot unit in Springfield the next month.

The Pittsburgh store will be Value City's second in the market. The 97,000-square-foot store, south of metropolitan Pittsburgh in Pleasantville, will open November 1.

A 300,000-square-foot DC will be opened in December, replacing a smaller facility. The new DC will handle hard lines. Value City operates six DCs all in the Columbus area.

Value City is a full-line off-pricer with stores in the Midwest and East. Sales were $411.2 million and net income was $19.1 million during the first nine months of its 1991 fiscal year, ended April 27.