Shopko

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

IT should and how iS Shopko doing better than Kmart.

Shopko has much nicer, better organized stores.
Shopko has yet to remodel their stores in areas where the stores still have the previous brown logo. The newest renovations have a white version of that logo against a green background with the name of the location placed underneath it. The store looks somewhat like a green Target, but with lots of differences.

Right now, Shopko is not opening regular big box stores. They're focused on remodeling the stores they have right now, plus they're opening new Shopko Hometown stores with the new look.

Besides the big box and Hometown Stores, Shopko also operates four drug stores under the name Shopko Express, a format designed to compete with Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The former Shopko discount store in Meridian, Idaho is set to become the future home of an Albertson's supermarket.

http://www.mymeridianpress.com/news/documents-show-albertsons-interest-in-former-shopko-location/article_31d6141f-b11f-525b-8c2f-3cb0290e0878.html

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko is on a list of 34 retailers that might close. OMG! I hope not!

[danfifepsu]

Shopko is on a list of 34 retailers that might close. OMG! I hope not!

Its prob a lie.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko is on a list of 34 retailers that might close. OMG! I hope not!

Its prob a lie.

http://www.businessinsider.com/retailers-at-risk-of-closing-stores-2017-5

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The former Shopko store in Meridian, Idaho will become an Albertson's supermarket.
The former Shopko store in Council Bluffs, Iowa will become an At Home store.
The Shopko Hometown (former ALCO store) in Tioga, North Dakota will close due to a lack of profitability.
The Shopko Hometown (former Pamida store) in Whitehall Township, Michigan will close, also due to a lack of profitability.
The Shopko Hometown (former Pamida store) in Palmyra, Missouri closed February 10, 2018.
The Shopko store near 84th Street and Center Road in Omaha, Nebraska closed late 2017.
The Shopko store in Provo, Utah closed in late 2017.
The Shopko store in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah closed and the land has been sold to a developer.
The former Shopko store on Shopko Drive in Madison, Wisconsin has been sold to a retail investment group.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko has begun to remove any under-performing pharmacy locations from some of their stores, including Shopko Lincoln, Nebraska-Northwest:



...they then started to seal it off in a Kmart-esque manner and fill the space with all kinds of random merchandise.

They also removed the pharmacy in the Dubuque, Iowa location.

[retailisking]

https://www.retaildive.com/news/debtwire-shopko-explores-restructuring/543527

[danfifepsu]

https://www.retaildive.com/news/debtwire-shopko-explores-restructuring/543527

will that be the end of ShopKO?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

https://www.retaildive.com/news/debtwire-shopko-explores-restructuring/543527

will that be the end of ShopKO?

They better do something soon, or else Walmart, Target or Meijer will be the only discounters left in my area. I currently live in Green Bay. Shopko was born there!

[retailisking]

Shopko is getting out of the pharmacy business
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/12/11/kroger-buying-shopko-pharmacy-business/2265296002/?fbclid=IwAR0LN9rFmj0W8lIHqZpON74eJNzx7suo69RvAel-L-rpzer7Xpkk8KBwYzE

[TheFugitive]

Selling the prescription files.  That's the coveted thing in a pharmacy acquisition.

My grandfather was a pharmacist.  He died in the 1950's.
Did not live long enough to cash-in on all of the wheeling and dealing.

My uncle's friend who is a pharmacist sold his business (files basically)
to CVS for a healthy six-figure sum, AND took a part-time job with
them filling prescriptions at $70K per year.

Nice work if you can get it.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I wonder what will happen to Shopko Express Rx, the free-standing pharmacy stores that were designed to compete with Walgreens and CVS...

I hate it when one retailer steals another's thunder!

[retailisking]

Hy-Vee is taking over a number of Shopko pharmacy files
http://www.startribune.com/hy-vee-acquires-some-shopko-pharmacies-in-minnesota-nearby-states/502791032

[danfifepsu]

Shopko is BANKRUPT AND CLOSING THESE STORES:https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shopko-filing-for-bankruptcy-green-bay-wisconsin-based-retail-chain-closing-more-than-100-stores/

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

They're liquidating the first location, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It will close in April 2019. I can't blame them for wanting to close that location. It was built in 1962, and now it is starting to show its age. It is run-down, there's traces amounts of asbestos in the vacant supermarket attached to the building.

I'm now in the same boat as anyone on this forum who lost Ames, Zayre, Bradlees or Caldor.

Luckily, while the chain is busy reorganizing during their Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings to become a stronger retailer, I still have four other Shopko locations in my area to visit, including a large Shopko store attached to a shopping mall located across from Shopko corporate headquarters and not too far from Lambeau Field.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko's very first store, 1962.



The store had a liquor store appended to the bottom left corner. The Sure Way (later Jubilee Foods) supermarket took up the other half of the building.

[standa]

Shopko's very first store, 1962.



The store had a liquor store appended to the bottom left corner. The Sure Way (later Jubilee Foods) supermarket took up the other half of the building.

I saw on Google maps what the building looks like now, and it appears very different (L-shaped). Where was the supermarket located? I can't figure it out.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko's very first store, 1962.



The store had a liquor store appended to the bottom left corner. The Sure Way (later Jubilee Foods) supermarket took up the other half of the building.

I saw on Google maps what the building looks like now, and it appears very different (L-shaped). Where was the supermarket located? I can't figure it out.

On the right side of this map:


The papered-up automatic doorways in this photo on the right side once lead to Sure Way (which later became Jubilee Foods):

[retailisking]

Other auction winners include CVS and Rite Aid
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2019/01/27/walgreens-cvs-and-rite-aid-among-winners-at-shopko-pharmacy-auction/#7218b8591524

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Another one bites the dust!

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2019/03/18/shopko-store-closings-bankrupty-plan-now-calls-all-stores-close/3203147002/

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Goodbye to a good buy: former ShopKo spokesperson Karen McDiarmid looks back at her career from 1976 to 1996:

https://www.wbay.com/content/news/Goodbye-to-a-good-buy-Shopko-Lady-looks-back--507532271.html?cid=facebook_WBAY_TV-2

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

In a few days, the Shopko, Shopko Hometown and Shopko Express stores will be joining the likes of Ames, Bradlees, Zayre and Caldor as defunct stores. Shopko's Optical Centers will soon operate out of smaller locations immediately following their parent company's shutdown. With Shopko gone, that leaves Kohl's, Menards, Stein Garden & Home, Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, Fleet Farm and Blain's Farm & Fleet as the only Wisconsin-based retailers left...

[Retail_247]

does that mean when all Shopko stores permanently close the optical is going to remain open?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

does that mean when all Shopko stores permanently close the optical is going to remain open?

Yes:
https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2019/04/18/shopko-bankruptcy-5-things-consumers-should-know-optical-sale/3497805002/

...and here's one of those locations:

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Shopko just closed their first store for one final time today in Green Bay, just as liquidation of the entire chain continues. The entire chain closes this summer.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

While the rest of the Shopko chain goes under, two smaller parts of Shopko will survive:

* Shopko Optical
* FastCare Clinic

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2019/06/23/shopko-bankruptcy-shopper-search-deals-companys-last-day/1352370001/

(Page 1)

Shopko's last day: Stores shut down amidst empty shelves, sadness
Jeff Bollier, Sarah Razner, Megan Stringer, Lydia Slattery and Caitlin Shuda, Green Bay Press-Gazette Published 11:11 a.m. CT June 23, 2019 | Updated 8:30 p.m. CT June 23, 2019

GREEN BAY - Shoppers flooded to Wisconsin's remaining Shopko stores Sunday, looking for deals and reminiscing about what had once been a major retailer in their communities.

Fifty-seven years after pharmacist James Ruben and a group of investors opened a $1 million department store on Green Bay's Military Avenue, the company's 11 remaining Wisconsin stores opened the for the last time at 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

Under overcast skies, shoppers began forming lines outside the Fond du Lac store's entrance more than a half an hour before opening, the only brightness coming from the yellow signs that read "last day."

Customers came slow at first, taking carts and leaning against them while they counted down. As the clock edged closer to the final opening of the doors at 9 a.m., however, cars came in packs and lines stretched past both entrances in a scene that reminded shoppers of Black Friday.

Jodi Burant was on her way back to Stevens Point when she decided to stop at the Fond du Lac store and see what she could find. A lifetime Shopko shopper, Burant liked the chain because it reminded her of Walmart, prior to its change into a superstore.

As she waited to get inside the store, a cart at the ready, she hoped to possibly find jeans, Fourth of July decor or, if she was very lucky, a grill.

"You just have to take the chance," she said.

When doors opened, more than 30 customers rushed through the doors. Almost immediately, Burant found the decorations she was seeking, while others pushed down aisles, picking up clothing, dishware, blankets and whatever was left of the Wisconsin department store.

Many of the once full shelving and aisles were nearly bare, others were stocked with a mishmash of items. Yellow tape cordoned off some areas of the store, creating a maze-like feel. Only a few chairs, a desk and a coffee table remained in the furniture department. In some places, discarded items sat on the floor, while employees tried to clean and organize as best they could.

Ginger and Patrick Schommer, of Fond du Lac, came to the store for years to shop its variety of items, and brands that could not be found anywhere else, said Ginger Schommer. Throughout their time, they enjoyed the in-store experience.

"There's a lot of people who like to go to a store and look around, and not just online," she said.

Tammy Miller reiterated that sentiment, stating it was a place where she could come and actually try on items. Although not a frequent Shopko shopper, she came for the sales, as the prices, she believed, were too high from the start, she said. On Sunday, she continued to look for good deals but was taking her time doing so, picking up items and considering them as she went.

"I'm not going to race for them," she said as others rushed about.

In the midst of the shopping frenzy, there was a feeling of sadness. Jerrae DeLap, of Fond du Lac, had gone to the store since it opened and in the 1980s. It was where she purchased clothing for her children. After her children were grown, she returned for its products and garden center and came to know employees by name.

Standing beside some of the last racks of clothing, she said she was going to miss the store as it took another shopping option from the city that has already lost many in recent years. She now will turn to Target, or out-of-town and online shopping to fill the void.

"I'm watching Fond du Lac lose these wonderful stores, and it's making me very sad. It's scary to find out all these stores are closing," she said.

One of the employees who shoppers said goodbye to was Connie Burnet. An employee of Shopko for 20 years, Burnet described the closure as a "death in the family."

"It feels like a bad dream you just can't wake up from," she said. "Today, it will all be over."

One of the aspects she enjoyed most about the job was the people â€" both those she worked with and those who shopped there. During the last week, her frequent customers shopped in to say goodbye, although she hopes it's not the end to see them again wherever she ends up.

She doesn't know where she will work next, but she may go back to school to find a career in computers, she said.

In her sadness, she feels anger, as well, toward Sun Capital Partners, the company's private equity owner.

"They did a lot of damage for a lot of good working people," she said.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

(Page 2)

A long decline

The Ashwaubenon-based company succumbed after years of financial trouble. Strategies to turn the company around floundered even as its private equity owner, Sun Capital Partners, continued to collect dividends and consulting.

Shopko found itself beset on all sides by competitors just as shopper expectations began to evolve. It proved unable to keep up.

And so the company sought bankruptcy protection from creditors in Nebraska on Jan. 16, declaring it had less than $1 billion in assets and more than $1 billion in debt.

There was originally hope, though: Shopko executives laid out a plan to close unprofitable stores, exit the pharmacy business and find a buyer to keep the retailer going. When no buyer emerged, Shopko announced in March it would close all stores, sell its optical business and wind-down, putting about 15,000 employees out of work.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

(Page 3)

In Wausau, a frenzy amidst largely empty shelves

At the Wausau Shopko store on 18th Avenue, the empty shelves and dollar deals were a familiar sight for Kelly Dehnel. The morning of the store's final day was her fifth time there this week hunting for bargains.

The discounts have grown better since the retailer first started winding down, she said. On Sunday she filled her cart with a $10 dutch oven, $1 T-shirts and other clothing, rugs, bedding, sandals and more.

Dehnel, who owns a dairy farm off County K northwest of Wausau, said the $1 T-shirts will be great to throw on and wear around the farm.

She used to stop in at Shopko regularly, once every couple of weeks. Now that it's closing, it's "just another hole in Wausau," she said. She called Shopko the best discount retail option on her side of town. After its closure, she'll have to head to the stores near Rib Mountain instead.

When Shopko empties out its shelves for good and the store goes dark, Dehnel hopes to see a similar retailer take over the space.

Melissa Eades suspects that she'll be spending more time shopping in Rib Mountain now, too, at Walmart or Kohl's. Much like the other shoppers scattered around the emptying aisles on Sunday, Eades will miss Shopko's presence in Wausau.

Unlike Dehnel, Eades hadn't been to any of the sales at Shopko since the retailer announced it would be winding down. So she knew she had to be there on the final day.

"I'm surprised by the sheer chaos," she said, as her daughter ran around with a new hair bow to take home.

That chaos remained mostly in the front section of the store where clothing and some shoes were displayed. Employees worked to contain everything and push merchandise to the front as they stacked leftover chocolate bunnies and ceramic mugs.

As some shoppers explored the back of the store, the frenzy was replaced by barren shelves amid pink flyers advertising 90% off. Roaming the aisles they passed entire deserted sections: home decor, sporting goods, luggage, school and office, pet supplies.

Back in the fevered clothing sections, the brown-red carpet was littered with the leftovers of shoppers on the trail of a good bargain. Hangers, sale tags, flakes of trash and even some orange slime speckled the ground.

Checkout lines wound around the dollar sections where people continued to browse, hearing whispers from others who had already been in line for an hour and a half.

Dehnel sighed at the thought of another retailer closing its doors in Wausau.