— Furniture Today,
Will manage new marketing services company

CULVER CITY, Calif. — Kimberly Ventre, president of retailer H.D. Buttercup here, has resigned to become managing partner of 50fifty, a new marketing services company.

She has been with H.D. Buttercup since June 2004, nearly a year before the launch of its 100,000-square-foot “manutailer” concept store here. The company was founded by CEO Evan Cole.

Ventre said there are no plans to replace her and that Cole will take a more active role in the business, sharing her duties with the operations team.

H.D. Buttercup aims to provide a bridge between manufacturers and consumers who cannot see complete product lines at typical home furnishings stores. Services provided to manufacturers showing in the store include warehousing, construction, maintenance, marketing, advertising and sales staffing.

“After an immensely successful first year, I have decided to move on to my next start-up opportunity,” Ventre said.

50fifty, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles provides brand strategy and execution services, retail consulting, experiential marketing, videos, events, Web design and photo and print production services to small and midsized companies.

Ventre said it will have furniture companies as clients, including retailers and manufacturers looking to become retailers.

Before joining H.D. Buttercup, she was an advertising executive with The Gap.