Shopko, which has been in bankruptcy proceedings since January, plans to close its remaining 120 stores by mid-June.
The Green Bay, WI.-based company announced what it called a “full liquidation” on Monday, after failing to find a buyer for stores not already closed or scheduled to close. The company had been hoping to reorganize around about 120 locations.
“This is not the outcome that we had hoped for when we started our restructuring efforts,” Shopko CEO Russ Steinhorst said in a statement. “We want to thank all of our teammates for their hard work and dedication during their time at Shopko.”
Shopko originally said it was closing about three dozen stores in December, then upped that number to more than 100 when it formally filed for bankruptcy in January. In February, it expanded its closure list again — to more than 250 of its 363 stores.
The bankruptcy court had scheduled an auction for Tuesday morning in the hope of driving up the price of initial bids that were submitted last week. On Monday, it announced the auction was canceled and a bankruptcy consultant would oversee the liquidation over the next 10 to 12 weeks.
Shopko has hired Gordon Brothers to liquidate its stores, expected to wrap up in 10 to 12 weeks. The court filing indicates all store closures will be completed by June 16.
