GREEN BAY, Wis., Aug. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopko announced today that it has expanded the role of its Senior Vice President of Product Development, Tom Abbott, to now include oversight of the company's Consumables division. His new title will be Senior Vice President Product Development/General Merchandise Manager, Consumables.
In this expanded role, Abbott will retain responsibility for product development, trend and sourcing. His previous oversight of the company's Textiles division will move to Shopko's newly hired Senior Vice President/GMM Home & Hardlines, Craig Gourley, creating one senior merchant leader and vision for the Home division.
Abbott has more than 40 years of experience in the retail industry, 20 of which have been with Shopko where he was initially hired as a senior buyer and eventually promoted to the executive team in 2005. Under Tom's leadership, Shopko's Product Development division has consistently produced outstanding results. He has been the key strategist behind the company's very successful private label brands program. Abbott also has played an integral role in the development of Shopko's Hometown store merchandising strategy and will continue to do so as both the consumables and private brand merchandise play a critical role in the growing Hometown format.
"This strategic move strengthens our important consumables team and business by positioning a direct senior leader in the division," said Jill Soltau, Shopko's Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer. "As we look to drive sales of Consumables in all of our formats, Tom's wide-ranging experience, in-depth understanding of all aspects of retail, keen understanding of consumer behavior, as well as his track record of achieving significant results make him the perfect fit for driving our consumables business. We are excited to have Tom's leadership over this important piece of our business."
About Shopko
Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is a $3 billion retailer that operates nearly 350 stores in 22 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain, North Central and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 134 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; 5 Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; and 25 Shopko Hometown locations, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities. Shopko is in the process of converting more than 160 recently-acquired stores and pharmacies to the Shopko Hometown brand. For more information, visit www.shopko.com.
SOURCE Shopko
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