Venture stalks bridge brands - Venture Stores Inc - Venture: Rewriting the Book, part 3

Discount Store News, Dec 4, 1995 by James Mammarella

O'FALLON, MO. - In the quest to gain more business from upstairs, Venture Stores is seeing eye to eye with some national apparel brands that have traditionally supplied the moderate department store tier.

Venture is close to gaining commitments from Cherokee and Kikomo to feature those brands across various categories. Venture is in negotiation for Rose Marie Reed swimwear by the Sirena Apparel Group and Modiano career coordinates by Norton McNaughton.

Starting in spring '96, Venture plans to carry Cherokee sportswear, accessories, men's apparel and possibly some domestics. It will feature Kikomo casual women's, plus-size and junior sportswear. The 115-store Midwestern chain will also upgrade its selection of Michael Stevens handbags and Tracy Evans career sportswear.

Executive vp, merchandising Cal Eller told DSN that his team gave men's apparel vendors their first inside look at Venture's comprehensive Catch the Wave makeover plans during the MAGIC convention last August, which was followed one week later by presentations to women's apparel suppliers in New York. Venture will invite about 100 key vendors to attend a group presentation slated for January on many of the fine points-new store layouts and adjacencies, signage and fixturing design, advertising and promotional strategies-of its category dominance strategy.

The upscaling focus is particularly crucial in apparel. Venture is seeking to leapfrog Target Stores to land in the soft lines zone between the discount level and Sears, Kohl's and Mervyn's. Similar moves are underway at other regional discounters including Bradlees, Pamida and ShopKo. Only at Venture, however, is the move coordinated by a total restructuring and remerchandising of all departments within the box.

Suppliers are mixed in their assessment of Venture's strategy. Some told DSN that they are certain the plan is viable.

Mark Cohen, president of Tracy Evans Ltd., which produces related career and office casual separates, said, "Target is narrow and deep and cheap. Venture will offer more fashion and broader assortments but its prices will still be sharper than the specialty store chains like Cato, Petrie or Charming Shoppes."

Kikomo vp sales Ravid Kamon said, "They will leapfrog Target, with the fixtures, upscaling stores, getting rid of a lot of the hard lines, cleaning up their floors and getting the national labels in. Target doesn't do that."

Yet Target is indeed bringing on Cherokee in a major way, with exclusive agreements to carry women's five-pocket jeans, women's shoes, girls' apparel and some segments of women's accessories. These four categories, said Cherokee vp, marketing Tom Weeks, "made up about 18% of our business in the past."

Thus far, only Target has category exclusivity with Cherokee. In its new incarnation as a licensing label, the former moderate women's. sportswear manufacturer is forging direct-licensing contracts with retailers. Target, possessing the internal structure to design and source its own lines under the Cherokee label, is not likely to tap what Weeks calls Cherokee's "manufacturing collective of suggested resources," while smaller chains may do so.

Regional upscale discounters are among Cherokee's partners of choice. A contract With Pamida was signed in mid-November. Negotiations with Caldor and ShopKo have occurred. Weeks said that specialty chains like Modern Woman have also come on board. He believes that each chain will be able to make unique statements by customizing its category and item mix in Cherokee.

Kikomo, a major supplier of casual women's sportswear to the mass market through private label programs, has determined that the time is right to show the Kikomo label at selected upscaling chains. Now offered at JCPenney, Sears, Mervyn's and some Federated stores, Kikomo also appears at SopKo Shipments to Venture will begin in March 1996.

Norton Sperling, president of Norton McNaughton, was scanning the mass merchandising channel for new opportunities. aid that one factor that is opening bridge resources to the upscale discounters is the tide of department store merchants entering the tier. These include Venture's president and ceo Bob Wildrick, formerly of Belk Stores, and senior vp, women's gmm Jerry DeBoer, formerly of the May Co. "Like [chairman and ceo] Mark Cohen at Bradlees, these are customers and friends of ours.," he said.

Sperling said, "We've talked to Caldor, to Fred Meijer. These regionals have to walk away from the 'Marts."' But he said that the Modiano brand, currently carried at moderate chains like Sears, Kohl's and Mervyn's, is too high-priced in its present make. He indicated that lowering prices, while maintaining garment quality, was a focal point of his conversations with Venture.

Sperling said that while there is no contract yet, Modiano could theoretically ship to Venture by June 1996.

Doug Arbitman, ceo of Sirena Apparel Group, said that he is in discussion with Venture on possibilities for the Rose Marie Reed swimwear brand, currently carried in the moderate tier and at ShopKo.