Variety Wholesalers, Inc. - Introduction

Introduction

3401 Gresham Lake Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615
U.S.A.
Telephone: (919) 876-6000
Fax: (919) 790-5349
Web site: http://www.vwstores.com

Private Company
Founded: 1932
Employees: 7,500
Sales: $502 million (2003 est.)
NAIC: 452111 Department Stores (Except Discount Department Stores)

Privately held Variety Wholesalers, Inc. is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based operator of several discount retail chains, offering a wide variety of clothing and accessories, housewares, health and beauty aids, sporting goods, toys, snack foods, and furniture. All told, the company owns about 550 stores located in southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The units are divided among three primary divisions. More than 200 stores in the 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot range make up the Super 10 Division. In addition to the Super 10 name, these stores operate as "Pope's," "Eagle," and "Super Dollar" stores. Slightly larger stores, 10,000 to 30,000 square feet, form the 150-plus Maxway Division, operating under the Maxway banner. Finally, the stores in the Rose's Division range in size from 30,000 to 70,000 square feet, all operating under the Rose's name. In addition, some Variety stores operate under the Bargain Town, Treasure Mart, and Value Mart Super Center names. The company is headed by the patriarch of the Pope family, John W. Pope, Sr., known as a keen retailer, able to buy struggling retail chains and turn them around, and a man not afraid to close failing stores. Business, North Carolina in a 1999 profile, described Pope as frugal: "Some might say downright cheap. His stores can go 15 or 20 years without a makeover." He shies away from larger markets, avoiding going head-to-head with Wal-Mart, for example, preferring instead areas that have minimum populations of 2,500 within one mile of a site, at least a 25 percent African-American population within five miles, and a median household income of less than $40,000. He also likes second- or third-generation shopping centers, especially ones anchored by a supermarket.