On Air Now

Shopko to now close all stores

It’s not been a good couple months for retailer Shopko.

The company announced in January it was filing for bankruptcy. In February, after saying the Monmouth location would stay open, it changed course and said it would close in May.

Now, Shopko, according to a statement and court filings, says it will be closing all of its stores by summer.

Monmouth Mayor Rod Davies told WGIL earlier this month the Maple City tried to convince the retailer to change their minds.

“We reached out, and tried to offer an incentive to stay, and consider a different store (for closure),” says Davies.  “Unfortunately, bankruptcy is a process and a plan, and I think before we heard about Monmouth going away, that (decision) had already gone down too far.”

Shopko’s CEO says in a news release that the company had hoped to find a buyer to keep the business open, but that was not to be.

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

At least for the Maple City, Davies says he is happy that Fareway Foods and Love’s Travel Stops are building in town, and he’s constantly on the hunt for ways to eliminate what he calls “retail leakage” — ways to get people to stay in town to shop instead of going to Galesburg or Burlington.

Recommended Posts

Loading...

Share Contact

contact-chris-mcintyre-qr-code