Shopko Names New Senior Vice President/General Merchandise Manager
GREEN BAY, Wis., Aug. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopko announced today that Craig Gourley has joined the growing company as its new Senior Vice President/General Merchandise Manager, Home & Hardlines.
An experienced retail merchant, Gourley brings 25 years of retail experience to this role, with significant expertise in the Home division. In this position, Gourley will report to Jill Soltau, Executive Vice President/Chief Merchandising Officer, and will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of merchandising for the Home division including developing strategies, negotiation vendor partnerships and managing the buying team.
Gourley joins Shopko after five years at J.C. Penney where he served as Divisional Vice President/DMM managing 60 percent of the company's Home business. Gourley developed strategies in both the Housewares and Bed, Bath & Window areas that exceeded sales, profit and market share goals through relevant merchandise assortments, strategic vendor partnerships, a complimentary mix of national and private brands and balanced SKU rationalization. His strong leadership style and affinity for cross functional partnership set the example for the organization while integrating the ecommerce, catalog and merchant teams into one, a significant task for the company. Prior to J.C. Penney, Craig spent nearly 20 years with The May Company at the Foley's and D&F Department Store chains where he held merchandising roles in a number of categories gaining growing responsibility during his tenure, eventually serving as Divisional Merchandise Manager for Housewares. After The May Company merged with Federated Department Stores, Craig was one of a select number asked to join the company in the role of DVP/DMM for Textiles for Macy's.
"Craig brings strong leadership and extensive experience to our Home division at a critical time as we expand our brand to new customers in our Shopko Hometown markets. Throughout his career, Craig has consistently delivered exceptional financial results due to his focus on newness, key items, total brand development and superior planning strategies," said Soltau. "He has a reputation for being a skilled negotiator with both domestic and import vendors and an effective leader and manager. His proven track record of success, coupled with his experience and fresh perspective, will make him a strong addition to our team."
Gourley joins Shopko as it is in the process of converting more than 160 Pamida stores to its new Shopko Hometown format as part of a merger with Pamida that was finalized earlier this year. Shopko Hometown combines Shopko's strong reputation of health services and customer service with a broad and dynamic offering of strong national brands and high-value private label brands of apparel, home furnishings, toys, consumer electronics, seasonal items, and lawn and garden products – all in a well laid out store formats that range from 15,000 to 35,000-square-feet. As a result of the merger, Shopko is now a $3 billion retailer with nearly 350 stores in 22 states.
Gourley earned a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University.
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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