Venture tries coupon kiosk, card; The Savings Spot offers advertising, discounts, rebates - Venture Stores

Discount Store News, Jan 3, 1994

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Venture Stores is rolling out a new electronic advertising/coupon terminal chainwide and is testing its own credit card.

The Savings Spot, a touch-key coupon Dispenser, offers shoppers color advertising of 32 products or services ranging from manufacturer rebates and local merchant coupons to sweepstakes entries.

Manufacturer coupons obtained at The Savings Spot are redeemable only at Venture Stores. The assortment of discounts and rebates will be updated every four weeks. The Savings Spot is the product of TSS Ltd., based in Westport, Conn.

The chain is also experimenting with its own credit card and expects that the card will be available in all stores by 1995 if the test goes well, a company spokeswoman said. As Venture introduced the new card in a total of nine stores in Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma, it stopped accepting Famous-Barr credit cards, a throwback to its May Department Store history that the two companies agreed to discontinue by 1995.

Other customer service changes made earlier this year include the installation of automatic teller machines in the St. Louis market. Plans call for ATMs to be in all stores within the next two years.

These steps toward adding customer service will hopefully build sales by eliminating one reason not to shop (no cash), while supplying another reason to shop (coupon savings).

Sales in the third quarter indicated consumers are buying, especially at the chain's new Texas stores.

Venture reported comparable store sales for the third quarter rose by 2.2%, while total sales for the quarter jumped by nearly 14% to $446.5 million, due in large part to the successful addition of 11 Texas stores that were not in operation during the third quarter of last year.