Pamida to Become "Shopko Hometown Store"
Thursday, January 5th, 2012 -- 10:18 AM
Major changes are in store for one of Neillsville?s largest retailers.Shopko and Pamida plan to merge, creating one company with nearly 350 stores in 22 states, the companies announced Wednesday.
Nearly all 193 Pamida locations around the country will be converted to ?Shopko Hometown Stores.? The changes will be phased in over the next year. A ?small handful? of Pamida locations will be phased out as part of the merger, though it?s not known which locations will be impacted, Shopko spokesperson Tara Powers says.
The two companies have been linked in the past, but only behind the scenes.
"Shopko and Pamida were one company back in the early 2000s," she says. "The difference today is they are truly merging together under the Shopko banner as one company, one corporate office."
[url=http://www.pamida.com/store-locator/]Pamida has 14 locations in Wisconsin[/url], including in Neillsville, Abbotsford and Arcadia. The Abbotsford location was one of two recently purchased by Shopko and converted to a Shopko Hometown Store.
"There is a lot of opportunity to serve smaller communities across the country who currently have to drive 15 minutes to an hour to go into a larger town to go to Wal-Mart or Target," notes Powers.
While some company mergers are just done on a balance sheet, customers will see big changes at Pamida locations. The Pamida name will be gone and product lines changed.
"Pamida consumers will see quite a change," she says, noting Shopko Hometown Stores carry larger product lines and more name-brand merchandise.
"In addition, the stores will all be converted. They'll have new signage, contemporary fixtures, easy-to-shop layout. It will look like a very different store to Pamida customers."
Terms of the deal announced Wednesday weren't disclosed. The merger is expected to close in mid-February.
The companies say there will be no change to Shopko's stores.
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