LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Shopko Stores: Chains
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ShopKo's watershed came in 1991. That year, longtime parent company Supervalu sold a 54 percent stake in the discount chain to the public. The proceeds of the offering were used to pay down ShopKo's debt to its parent. Dale Kramer, a former pharmacist whose career at ShopKo stretched back two decades, succeeded William Tyrrell as president and CEO, while Tyrrell assumed the newly created chairman's seat. Perhaps most importantly, Kramer and Tyrrell pinned their hopes to "move up and challenge the Big Three" via Vision 2000, launched that same year.
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Shopko's CEO Mike MacDonald congratulates Tami Aubry on a recent promotion at Bay Park Square mall in Green Bay. MacDonald is looking forward to leading the changes on tap for the future of the Green Bay-based department store chain.
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By the end of the 20th century, ShopKo had "carved a niche as an upscale, lifestyle-driven discounter," according to DSN Retailing Today. However, President and CEO William Podany, who succeeded the retiring Dale Kramer in 1999, determined that major market saturation by the "big boxes" would prevent ShopKo from ever becoming a national chain. Like his predecessor, Podany hoped to establish a nationwide reach by focusing on his key competitors' weaknesses.
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Supervalu has held a 46% investment in ShopKo since 1971. It has expressed an interest in divesting the discount chain in order to focus on its food business. Goldman, Sachs & Co. was managing underwriter for the offering, with Merrill Lynch & Co. and Salomon Brothers acting as co-managers.
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ShopKo was founded by James Ruben in 1962. In 1991, ShopKo transitioned from being a private business to a public corporation. The Pamida chain was bought by ShopKo Stores, Inc. in 1999.
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The successful execution of these tactics, even though ShopKo is one of the country's better positioned regional chains, is essential to the company's survival as an independent entity. As any reader of these words knows, retail competition is brutal, increased consolidation inevitable.
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