Shopko's future

[Super S]

I was in Lacey, WA today, and stopped at the Shopko store there. The store itself was in decent shape overall, but the prices were not all that great. Also, I noticed a general lack of customers in the store.

Shopko has a couple of rather odd locations in Lacey, WA, and Salem, Oregon, both of which are quite a distance away from the next closest stores. I am under the impression that this chain is struggling to stay afloat, and am wondering how Shopko is doing in areas where they have a larger presence.

[storewanderer]

Prices have long been a problem at Shopko, except clearance pricing, which can be just great.

I've been to three Shopkos in the past approximately 15 months:

15 months ago: Redding, CA Shopko. The store looked good overall, though there were some signs of disrepair. Self checkouts were all completely closed. Most departments were stocked pretty well. This store was remodeled and has their new logo and is all in all a nice looking store.

December 2009: West Valley City, UT Shopko. This was an older store but clean and reasonably well stocked. It was a few days before Christmas and the store only had a few checkouts open. It was busier than a nearby Sears Grand but that isn't saying much when the nearest Wal Mart's parking lot was completely packed.

December 2010: Bountiful, UT Shopko. This again is an older store and was clean. But a few things struck me: first, about four checkstands were removed. There were another three or four checkstands with no register on them. The store had six checkstands with registers on them. Only one was open during my time of visit, and there was no wait when I went up to pay. The clerk asked if I had some sort of loyalty card, and when I declined, I was not given any additional information about this loyalty card. The next thing that struck me was the Christmas area didn't have near the variety I had seen at Shopko in the past. The rest of the store was poorly stocked with many out of stocks and very high prices. This was about a week before Christmas and the nearby Smiths Marketplace was running about 8 lanes immediately prior to my visit to Shopko. I also saw a Kmart somewhat nearby that had some traffic, definitely a lot more than the Shopko.

So based on what I saw last month I don't think Shopko has much of a future. I hope I'm wrong.

[Super S]

A little more than a year ago, I also visited the Shopko in Salem. This store used to have dark mercury vapor lights and a "warehouse" type ceiling. But on that last visit I noticed it had the current signs in place, and the inside was remodeled and, although the warehouse ceiling was retained, had all new lighting. That store looked pretty nice. But the Lacey store has not changed much at all since it opened and still has the red & blue logo in place. Meanwhile, Walmart has opened one store close by, has one under construction in Tumwater, and Target has some newer stores in the area as well. The Lacey Shopko, like many of their stores, has recessed lighting typical of most Target stores, but looks more like what would happen to a Target store if Kmart gained ownership of it.

My first experience with Shopko was when they opened in Boise, ID in the mid 80s. At the time they were a great store, and they still seem to do ok there despite an ever-growing presence by not only Walmart, but also Fred Meyer. Worth noting is that Kmart is down to one store in Boise though.

[Andrew T.]

On their home turf (WI), Shopko seems to be doing just fine. The stores are well-stocked, well-maintained (all I've seen are very clean and well-organized, and most have been remodeled in the last few years), and seem busy enough to me. I shop there fairly often; partially out of "anti-Walmart" defiance and local loyalty, I'll admit, but partially because I believe they offer a good balance of price and quality with an atmosphere I find more appealing (and less overbearingly trendy-for-its-own-sake) than Target. Their service departments (pharmacy, optical) are well-regarded as well.

Not to say they're perfect, though. The Extra Savings Card I can't figure out: It doesn't provide much of anything in the way of discounts, and half the time the cashiers don't ask for it anyway. I also wouldn't be surprised if they have trouble competing in their western markets, where their store coverage is almost hopelessly sparse and random and the distribution/promotional model must be a nightmare. I hope they stick around, though...in a way, they deserve a monument for being the only upper-shelf regional discount chain that's left!

[tesg]

They opened a brand new ground-up store in Council Bluffs, IA last year. I believe it was their first new build in several years. They have been remodeling existing stores into their new look/logo.

They also recently re-branded a Pamida store as a smaller (than a ShopKo) format "ShopKo Hometown" with favorable results. This is a concept they plan to move forward with.

While a lot of their prices tend to be higher priced than Walmart or Target on the basics, they seem to have a quality reputation in their clothing, furniture, and domestics lines that people come back to them for.

[Super S]

Fast forward a little over three years later, at the Lacey, WA store. The TOP Foods store next door has closed. The Shopko has received new exterior signage. Out of curiosity, I decided to stop in and take a look around. Pretty much nothing has changed on the inside, not even the department signage. The store also has a gloomy looking interior that mainly uses the color gray. However, the store seems to be gradually falling into disrepair. I counted at least 15 light fixtures where all four bulbs were burned out (flickering and barely glowing), and some random lights on the ceiling that look like they used to shine on a sign or something, which were still working. And, the floor tiles still had random dark gray tiles mixed in with the white ones, I guess from when this store opened. Although the condition was ok, it looks dated. I also found, at the back center of the store, an area along the ceiling that appeared to have some kind of track lighting system at some point. I also took note of an area at the far back right corner of the store which was blocked off by shelving, adjacent to the restrooms, which might have been a former service desk or something.

As for the store's merchandise, it looked ok but prices were high, and the electronics department in particular wasn't particularly well stocked. Some of the clothing areas were also a bit cluttered.

As for the employees, I did not see a single employee anywhere in the store except up at the front registers, service desk, pharmacy, and optical.

Customer count was extremely low, and there were only two registers in use.

After my observations today, I really am questioning the future of this particular location. It just seems to be limping along until a lease runs out or something (sounds like many Kmart stores), and Shopko doesn't appear to be interested in opening any more stores on the west side of the Cascades. I don't want to see them go away, but am thinking it's only a matter of time before this store closes, especially when you consider how few locations they have west of the Cascades.