Retail Ventures January Comps Fall 1.2%

Retail Ventures total sales for the four weeks ended January 31, 2004, increased 3.9% to $122.9 million from $118.2 million for the four weeks ended February 1, 2003. The company's same store sales decreased 1.2% for the
four week period.

Total sales for the fifty-two weeks ended January 31, 2004, increased 5.9%
to $2.594 billion from $2.451 billion for the fifty-two weeks ended February
1, 2003. The company's same store sales increased 1.2% for the fifty-two week
period.

    Retail sales statistics are as follows:


                                     Four weeks ended ($ in thousands)
                                      January 31, 2004      February 1, 2003
                                           $       %           $         %
     Total Sales
       Value City Department Stores     $64,972   52.9      $69,773     59.0
       DSW Shoe Warehouse                42,605   34.7       34,954     29.6
       Filene's Basement                 15,289   12.4       13,509     11.4
                                       $122,866  100.0     $118,236    100.0

     Comparable Sales Percentage
       Value City Department Stores               (6.9)%                (6.3)%
       DSW Shoe Warehouse                          8.4 %                (8.2)%
       Filene's Basement                           8.5 %                (3.1)%
                                                  (1.2)%                (6.4)%


                                        Fifty-two weeks ended ($ in thousands)
                                      January 31, 2004       February 1, 2003
                                           $       %           $         %
     Total Sales
       Value City Department Stores  $1,504,674   58.0   $1,518,595     61.9
       DSW Shoe Warehouse               772,631   29.8      628,964     25.7
       Filene's Basement                316,901   12.2      303,160     12.4
                                     $2,594,206  100.0   $2,450,719    100.0

     Comparable Sales Percentage
       Value City Department Stores               (0.7)%                (5.1)%
       DSW Shoe Warehouse                          5.6 %                (0.1)%
       Filene's Basement                           2.6 %                 0.3 %
                                                   1.2 %                (3.5)%

“Value City Department Stores continued to improve unit sales during the
4th quarter; however, we achieved lower than planned average unit retails and
initial markups resulting in lower than expected gross margins in December and
January. While Value City's average unit retail and initial markups are being
elevated for spring, the late 4th quarter reduced margin dollars requires us
to revise our fiscal 2003 earnings estimate from our previous breakeven
estimate to an estimated net loss in the range of $5 million to $7 million,”
said Jim McGrady, Chief Financial Officer.

John Rossler, President and Chief Executive Officer, added “Although we
are disappointed with the need to revise our earnings estimate for fiscal
2003, we are pleased with the positioning and prospects in 2004 for each of
our brands; Value City, Filene's Basement and DSW. Our net income for both the
3rd and 4th quarters of 2003 indicate improvement from the comparable 2002
quarters and we expect our “business on the upswing” to continue throughout
2004.”