Venture (department store)

Venture was a chain of discount department stores operating in Australia. It was developed by South Australian department store John Martins and was opened in 1970. The chain grew to cover much of the country. It was sold to the Cookes family which purchased the Waltons chain of department stores in 1987 and promptly closed it down, converting most of the stores to the Venture banner. In 1994, the company went bankrupt due to financial difficulties and soon after, it was closed down. The demise of Venture accelerated the national expansion of Harris Scarfe and the statewide expansion of FitzGeralds in Tasmania (FitzGeralds was merged with Harris Scarfe a year later).

Former store locations

South Australia

Salisbury (Parabanks) (eventually acquired by Harris Scarfe and became the first suburban Harris Scarfe store. This occurred before the collapse of the Venture chain)
Elizabeth (this Venture store had two storeys, and was eventually taken over by Harris Scarfe).
West Lakes
Woodcroft
Arndale, now Centro Arndale (Kilkenny)

Tasmania

Devonport (now Harris Scarfe)
Eastlands
Hobart (now Wendy's and Priceline on the upper level)
Ulverstone (now Harris Scarfe)
Launceston (now Target)

Australian Capital Territory

Monaro Mall/Canberra Civic (acquired from Waltons)
Woden Plaza
Belconnen Mall

New South Wales

Albury (acquired from Waltons who had purchased from Burns Philp, had been "Mates" department store)
Armidale (acquired from Waltons)
Auburn
Bankstown
Baulkham Hills
Blacktown (acquired from Waltons)
Bondi Junction (acquired from Waltons)
Burwood (acquired from Waltons)
Cabramatta
Campbelltown
Caringbah
Carlingford
Cessnock
Chatswood
Coffs Harbour
Dee Why (acquired from Waltons, free-standing store over three floors)
Fairfield
Gosford (acquired from Waltons, was located in Market Town centre)
Hornsby (acquired from Waltons)
Hurstville (acquired from Waltons)
Kotara (Garden City)
Liverpool
Merrylands
Mount Druitt
Newcastle - Hunter Street
Nowra
Parramatta (acquired from Waltons, part of the Westfield site; over two floors)
Penrith
Seven Hills
Taree
Top Ryde
Wollongong (Crown Central)

Victoria

Kilsyth
Coburg
Box Hill
Forest Hill
Brandon Park
Clayton (now Coles Centre Rd)
Waverley Gardens
Frankston (acquired from Waltons)
Keysborough (Parkmore Shopping Centre)
Dandenong (acquired from Waltons), later occupied by Dimmeys
Greensborough
Lalor
Morwell
Sale
Shepparton (store location converted to a Target department store)
Sunbury
Ballarat
Geelong (Market Square)
Corio Village
Richmond
Melton
Wantirna South (Knox City)
Vermont South
Boronia
Bulleen Plaza
Mildura (two stories)
Maribyrnong (Highpoint West Shopping Centre)
Bendigo
Chadstone

Queensland

Brisbane City
Carindale
Deception Bay
Fortitude Valley
Indooroopilly
Loganholme (Logan Hyperdome)
Redbank (Redbank Plaza)
Rockhampton (Rockhampton Shopping Fair)
Southport (Gold Coast)
Toowoomba (Clifford Gardens)
Upper Mount Gravatt (Garden City)

References

Former glories, Inside Retailing Magazine, September 2005, archived from the original on 24 August 2006, retrieved 3 January 2014