When you come from your roots, what does that entail, finding small remains from the beginning that can make you realize that all is not forgotten, and if history repeats itself, then seeing a Venture store that looks like it never closed, just outside downtown St. Louis in Fairmont City, Illinois, then this can make you see history will never be forgotten.
The chain was founded in 1970 in St. Louis, Missouri and headquartered in O'Fallon and operated over 70 stores in the major markets like Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and expanded into Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kentucky over a 30 year time span.
Whatever happened to this store that kept the sign up all these years, no other store bought the building and took it down, southwestern tornadoes and extreme weather didn't blow it out of the frame, if it had been damaged ever, it looks like they intentionally put in back in place. Some memories cannot be memorialized in the mind or in photos as well as still being able to physically see the store and how it looked.
The only company that took over the store was the headquarters for one of the nicest private car sale forms in the midwest, Gateway Classic Cars, founded in St. Louis in 1999., Ironically a year after Venture went out of business.
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| Gone now, as of March 2014. |
this is awesome!
ReplyDeleteSomeone on Flickr years ago, also documented a preserved Venture store somewhere else. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe that pic was from a former Venture in Fort Smith, AR, where the signage was oddly left up.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised how often I still run into old Venture buildings, and can instantly can tell which ones were former Venture buildings! I still miss Venture a lot, myself. Does the signage and look of this store still remain as of today, or has it been covered up or demolished since?
As far as I know, a fellow retail friend went there recently and its still all there. Another location the Venture signage was still up was in Florrissant, Missouri as the Kmart banner fell off the frame, revealing the Venture sign.
Deletewent by it today, it's gone now, painted over
ReplyDeleteMore pics and info about this building can be found here: https://en.phorio.com/5401-5403_collinsville_road,_fairmont_city,_united_states
ReplyDelete