History of Shopko

A pharmacist James Ruben founded Shopko and that took place in Green Bay in 1962. His vision for the store was quality, convenience and value. He took the opportunity to combine health with large discount store it became one of the first mass retail in 1971 to feature pharmacy in stores. The next step he took was optical care in 1978. Shopko was known for its proficient in optical and pharmacy services. Shopko is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin was a $3 Billion retail with over 330 stores throughout 21 states such as the Midwest, Mountain, North Central and Pacific Northwest regions. Shopko provided qualified name brand items, pharmacy and optical stores that varies in small and big cities. So, there is a little bit of history that I didn’t know about which I thought it was cool that Shopko was based in Wisconsin. https://www.shopko.com/category/Company/Our-History/pc/2176/2179.uts

Chief Executive Officer Russ Steinhorst said, “the decision to file chapter 11 bankruptcy is difficult but necessary one. In a challenging retail environment, tough choices were made but confident in operating smaller stores to build a strong foundation to better serve customers, vendors employees and other stakeholders in this process.” They were able to keep 360 stores in 26 states open by securing $480 million in financing from a group of lenders led by Wells Fargo. They do plan on relocating 20 optical centers to freestanding locations even after closing close to over 200 stores nationwide. https://lacrossetribune.com/business/local/shopko-announces-more-closing-nationwide-where-are-they-find-out/article_94d99a8c-98c5-5f37-8f55-fae81598cde7.html

The optical places at 13 stores will remain open through closing process and will relocate to standalone sites, I was not able to find which 13 stores, but if I find further information I’ll be sure to update but they stated the 13 stores does not include La Crosse, Mauston and Seymour locations. https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2019/01/16/shopko-files-for-bankruptcy-will-close-38more.html

It is very sad to those who must deal with closing over 200 stores nationwide not only are the CEO affected it’s the store owners, managers, employees and regular customers. I do wish them all the best and wish them well in the next opportunity they may find, and for customers to find other stores to make their purchases at.

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