ShopKo to Launch Wellness Concept

ShopKo Stores Inc. (Green Bay, Wis.) will launch its new ShopKo Express Rx concept this weekend at three suburban Green Bay locations.

The new 15,000-square-foot neighborhood drug store format will be inaugurated Saturday in Howard and Ledgeview, Wis., after three months of construction. A third store, in Port Washington, Wis., has been remodeled and will also celebrate its grand opening on January 15.

ShopKo Express Rx is a neighborhood drug store format focused on professional pharmacy services, health and wellness products and information, home business solutions, photo processing, as well as a convenient assortment of food and beverages and traditional drug store merchandise. In addition to these services, the Howard ShopKo Express Rx location will feature an eye care center staffed by optometrists.

“I believe the opening of our ShopKo Express Rx stores is an exciting development in the company’s history,” said Sam Duncan, ShopKo president and ceo. “We are very enthusiastic because the ShopKo Express Rx format magnifies and builds on one of ShopKo’s core strengths – retail health.”

Retail health operations at ShopKo have grown 16 percent in the last three years, now representing more than 26 percent of the company’s total sales. ShopKo pharmacies filled 3.2 million prescriptions in 2003. ShopKo eye care centers filled more than 660,000 optical prescriptions last year.

“ShopKo’s historical roots are in providing exceptional pharmacy services to our customers,” Duncan added. “We know this business very well and believe ShopKo Express Rx will provide customers with a unique blend of professional services and products currently not available under one roof, in a convenient neighborhood setting.”