Shopko To Liquidate, Close All Remaining Stores by Summer

GREEN BAY, WI – Shopko announced yesterday that despite the Company’s best efforts, it was unable to find a buyer for its go-forward business. As a result, Shopko will commence an orderly wind-down of its retail operations beginning this week. The company is also evaluating strategic options for its remaining optical business.

Shopko also no longer intends to move forward with an auction for its assets that had been scheduled for Tuesday morning. According to the press release, Gordon Brothers will oversee the liquidation process, which is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks.

In its Chapter 11 filing in January, Shopko cited excess debt and ongoing competitive pressures, and reported assets of less than $1 billion and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. The retailer, which operated over 360 stores at the time of the filing, said it planned to continue to operate during the restructuring process.

In February, the discount retailer announced the second of two rounds of store closings after filing for bankruptcy. The Shopko Hometown stores in Custer and Hot Springs were listed for closure at that time. The Newcastle location was not on the closure list at the time, but, things have since changed, and all Shopko locations will now shutter by June.

“This is not the outcome that we had hoped for when we started our restructuring efforts,” said Russ Steinhorst, Chief Executive Officer. “We want to thank all of our teammates for their hard work and dedication during their time at Shopko.”

Shopko was founded by pharmacist James Ruben in Green Bay in 1962.

The Newcastle store is expected to close by June 16th.