Shopko liquidating Employees, community consider longterm impact

After six years operating as a Shopko Hometown store and almost three decades as a local Libby retailer — most of that time as Pamida — the Shopko in Libby will close its doors by June 16.

In response to whether the Libby store would continue to be stocked until the summer, Michelle Hansen, Manager Public Relations and Shopko Foundation, said by email that the “wind down” as Shopko stores and their stock are liquidated began last week, “with (an) approximate closing date of June 16.”

Hansen said the property and store are leased, but on the Lincoln County GIS map — which is updated as state property records change — the store and surrounding parcels still show “Pamida” in the owner name.

In response to whether the property is owned by a Shopko-affiliated company, Hansen responded that she does not have that information.

Going forward

Belinda Masters has worked at the Shopko location since it opened as a Pamida. She even helped to set up the first shelves and stock them before the opening.

After almost 29 years, she is unsure what she will do after the doors finally close.

She has considered retirement, she said. But she still has to decide.

“I’ve worked there almost 29 years. That’s almost half of my life,” she said. “So, I don’t really know how I feel about that yet.”

Masters said she has considered the possibility of trying to find another job even just to keep up socially.

“I’m personal friends with so many people in the community because of my job at Shopko and waiting on them over the years,” she said. “It almost is like family. Everywhere I go, I see somebody I know from Shopko.”

But Masters expressed more interest in her fellow workers than in how the closing will affect her personally.

They have families to worry about. One even recently bought a house, she said.

“Some of them made comments, they may have to leave for work, and not be able to stay here. So, it’s pretty devastating, really,” Masters said.

In figuring out how she will handle the closing, Masters spoke of her faith.

“I guess the bottom line for me is that I have to keep faith that God brought me to this, He’ll walk me through it,” she said.

Jana Murchie left the Shopko store in 2010, when it was still a Pamida. Still, she echoed the sentiments of others in the community who will miss the convenience the store provided.

“I just, I wish something was coming in its place, so we wouldn’t have more vacant buildings,” she said.

For a lot of basic items such as clothing, Murchie said she believes a lot of people have switched to online shopping. But even with a chain store, there are things Shopko offered that an online store can’t.

“I‘m from a generation, I like to touch, feel and try on things before I buy,” she said. “And one thing about going to a store, at least you get interaction with other human beings,” she said.

“If I was a billionaire, I’d do something with that building to help the community,” Murchie said.

The gap

When other local retailers were asked if they expected to make an effort to fill some of the gap left by Shopko closing, every one focused on their concerns for the Shopko employees and how the closing may affect the larger community.

Rosauers Supermarket Store Manager Scott Erickson said that Rosauers would continue to be open to requests for products they may not carry, as they have been through the 39 years he has worked there. Like all retailers who were contacted, he noted that some things simply may not be available in their supply chain though.

“But just I hate — hate, hate, hate — to see this,” he said. “You know, some people would say, ‘Oh, that just means more business for you,’ but, for our town, I just — it’s a really sad thing for the families.”

If people have to move away to find work, even if a local retailer competed with Shopko on some items, they could still see loss from the closing as they lose customers from people leaving town, he said.

“I was really hoping that Bonners Ferry and Libby, you know, that they could keep some of these going,” He said. “I’m really sad to see that they just couldn’t keep them going.”

Tom Gilmore, owner of Ace Hardware, said that he is sorry to see Shopko go.

“It’s a big loss any time a business closes in a town like this,” he said.

Across Highway 2 from Shopko, Homesteaders store manager Vicki Hunt said that they may carry more items such as sweat pants and shirts, and will always be open to special orders if they can fulfill them.

But, like Erickson and Gilmore, she said more than anything she was sorry to see Libby lose a retailer and the jobs that go with it.

History

In 1999, Shopko purchased Pamida’s 163 stores, including the one on the north end of Libby. Fourteen years later, in January 2013, they announced the completed conversion of all their Pamida Stores into Shopko Hometown stores.

Then on Jan. 16 of this year, Shopko filed for “court-supervised restructuring” under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

At the time, Shopko announced plans to close 38 stores, and a press release from Shopko even discussed the possible expansion of their optical business.

But on March 18, Shopko announced the closing of all of their remaining stores.

On February 8, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska had entered a final store closing order, “establishing procedures for the conduct of store closings,” according to court documents.

Shopko’s debtors, according the court documents, provided notice that they had determined it was in their best interests to commence store closings.

Hansen said that Shopko had spent the weeks prior to March 18 trying to find a buyer for their remaining retail operations — which included 234 Shopko Hometown stores.

“But, unfortunately, it did not result in a buyer emerging for our go-forward business,” she said.