Some 13 cities and towns in Wyoming are reeling after the
closure of one a main local business outlet.
Shopko closed
its general stores in Wheatland, Torrington, Newcastle, Greybull, Lander,
Mountain View, Thermopolis, Worland, Powell, Buffalo, Douglas, Green River, and
Afton in recent months, leaving customers in those towns scratching their heads
about where are they going to go now for shopping and other needs?
To cities the
size of Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Laramie, or Sheridan, or Gillette, such a
closure would be a problem but not a calamity. In these smaller towns, it is a
crisis.
Here in my
town of Lander, Shopko will be missed.
Shoppers are 23 miles from a Walmart and a Walgreens in Riverton but
still it is not handy. We have lots of
smaller stores and shops that will try to fill the need, but it is still a big
loss.
At first
glance, the closure of all these stores gives us an inferiority complex. Perhaps our local economies are not strong
enough to support a store like Shopko?
Or even worse,
the modern internet economy must have killed them off. It is a sign of the
times. Or is it?
Then there is
the scourge of petty theft and shoplifting that is plaguing stores all across
the country. Pilferage has brought down
many a small town store.
Or could it be
just bad management? Folks who can
survive the good times often are clueless how to succeed during the tough
times.
My theory is
that all the above may have been factors in Shopko’s Wyoming demise, but the
biggest reasons this chain of 363 stores failed were greed and short-term
profit taking.
Back when
these were Pamida stores (named for the company’s founder’s three sons, Pat,
Mike, and Dave and based in Omaha) this chain was profitable and successful.
Like so many
companies these days along came a hedge fund or other types of moneymen from
Wall Street and they sucked poor Shopko dry. When all the money was gone, they
declared bankruptcy, causing terrific ripple effects across the country in 363
small towns. The owners had paid themselves $117 million in dividends over the
past four years.
Our local
store was always an odd duck. It never
seemed to have enough products on the shelves.
Its pharmacy was erratic until it was sold off in a desperate ploy on
the part of the Shopko executives to raise cash. Their products often did not
match the season or the market. The corporate
owners were not paying attention.
In a word, it
was a management style based on short-term vision and quick bucks for the
owners.
Thus, it is
important for folks in our small towns to not beat themselves up over the
demise of an important local store. And it is another reason to celebrate our
stores that have local owners or, at least, local Wyoming owners.
Phil Roberts
of Laramie blames the closures on greed and especially on the policies of
President Donald Trump, which might be a bit of a stretch. He concludes, “All
in all, the closures speak out for regulation of pure and simple
corporate-raider greed as well as a sane trade policy. The Shopko example
brings it all home.”
Parker Jackson
of Lyman says of the Shopko closing, “For those of us in Bridger Valley, the
closing of the Mountain View location means that things will go largely go back
to the way they were before it opened.
“We do have Benedict`s, which most
use for their grocery needs and a few other things. For a lot of goods like
clothes, shoes, and electronics, most from Bridger Valley will drive half an
hour to Walmart in Evanston or an hour to Rock Springs. For more specific
shopping needs, people will go to Utah. Some will also turn more towards
online shopping options.
“It is a loss for Mountain View and
Lyman, but the extent remains to be seen,” he says.
Tom Lubnau of Gillette takes a
dimmer view, “Bill, you are thinking like a baby boomer. Amazon is
driving the closure of these stores. When we wanted to see a TV
show, we had to wait until next week to see it. Our society is now used
to pulling a magic box out of our pockets, pressing a few buttons and having
something arrive on our doorstep.
“Shopko is a symptom of a much
greater disease which includes lack of interaction,” he concludes.
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