Oct 25, 2008

Gift cards draw in shoppersBy Doris HajewskiJSOnline.com

Sussex – Never underestimate the power of a $10 gift card.

Hundreds of shoppers holding golf umbrellas lined up in the rain Friday morning for the grand opening ceremony at the new Shopko store. The first 200 were rewarded with gift cards.

“That was amazing,” Shopko President Paul Jones said of the turnout.

The 80,000-square-foot-store, on Highway 164 at W. Silver Spring Drive, sits next to a Kohl’s Department Store.

The Sussex store features Shopko’s new look, unveiled for the first time earlier this year at a new store in Suamico, a suburb of Green Bay, where the discount chain is based. From the tan exterior to the bright-colored inside, the store looks nothing like the old gray, blue and red Shopkos.

Merchandise displays have been upgraded to look more like a department store, and brands have been added. New labels this year include Sag Harbor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Briggs, and Naughton in women’s apparel; Paula Deen in housewares.

“I love it,” said Lisa Nasinnyk of Waukesha. “They have some nice buys, things you can’t find at Target.”

Nasinnyk, who works in Menomonee Falls, is a longtime Shopko fan who has been driving to the Shopko store in West Bend. She approved of the new look. “It looks almost like a Penney’s,” Nasinnyk said.

The Sussex store also has a Fast Care clinic, offering basic medical services from a nurse practitioner. Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin operate the clinic, which is the first such effort for the Wauwatosa health provider. Shopko has been adding Fast Care clinics to its stores in recent years, using local providers to better connect with the community, said Michael Bettiga, senior vice president for retail health operations for Shopko.

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