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Details on new Bonners Ferry Shopko Hometown
store announced at Chamber of Commerce dinner
meeting |
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April 23, 2016 |
One of the special guests at last night's Big
Ideas 2016 Dinner, sponsored by the Bonners
Ferry Chamber of Commerce, was Jason Brandow, a
representative of Shopko, who presented
information on the new Shopko Hometown store now
being built on Bonners Ferry's South Hill. (for
more information on the Chamber of Commerce Big
Ideas Dinner 2016, click here).
It is anticipated construction of Shopko's
building will be completed and the new store
will open for business in October of this year,
according to Mr. Brandow.
 It
was last October, in 2015, when the Boundary
Economic Development Council and the Bonners
Ferry Urban Renewal Agency announced that plans
were in the works for a new Shopko store to be
built in Bonners Ferry. The site for the new
store, located on the South Hill on property
between the Kootenai Valley Motel and the Idaho
Department of Lands, had been purchased by a
Utah-based property development company. The
Bonners Ferry Urban Renewal District has been
working with the developer on the public
infrastructure required for the development.
According to Mr. Brandow, the developer will
continue to own the property and is supervising
the current construction. Shopko will be renting
the property and the building for its store.
(Story continues below this
photograph)
Mr. Brandow said the company is still in the
process of hiring a manager and assistant
manager for the Bonners Ferry Shopko store. He
estimated the new store will have 25-30
employees, and some part-time employees.
Shopko currently operates about 370 stores in 25
states, according to Mr. Brandow. Although many
of these are larger stores in large cities, the
newer concept of the Shopko Hometown stores is
aimed at placing stores in smaller communities
of population 3,000 to 8,000 people. Typically a
Shopko Hometown store will carry about 70% of
the merchandise found at Shopko's larger stores.
The Shopko Hometown stores are built in one of
three different sizes: 15,000 square feet,
25,000 square feet, or 35,000 square feet. The
Bonners Ferry store will be a 25,000 square foot
store.
In addition to the regular retail merchandise
available in the store, the Bonners Ferry Shopko
Hometown store will have a pharmacy, and will
have a "limited amount" of groceries. Although
Shopko stores often have an optometrist office
for the provision and sale of prescription
eyeglasses, Mr. Brandow replied "not yet" when
asked about whether the new Bonners Ferry Shopko
would have optometry.
In addition to Bonners Ferry's new Shopko
Hometown store, two other Shopko stores are
opening in other Idaho locations this year.
Shopko is based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, near
Green Bay. The company was founded in 1962 by
James Ruben, and opened its first store in Green
Bay, Wisconsin.
Although Shopko had been a publicly held company
for many years, it was acquired in 2005 by Sun
Capital Partners, a global equity firm
headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with
offices worldwide. In addition to Shopko, Sun
Capital owns more than 300 other companies, and
has combined worldwide sales of over $45
billion.
Some of the other companies owned and operated
by Sun Capital include Johnny
Rockets, The Limited, Boston Market, and
Friendly's restaurants.
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