Kroger to Buy Chunk of Shopko's Pharmacy Business

12/11/2018

Kroger has acquired from Shopko 42 stores' pharmacy files, which the grocer will transfer to its own banners

Kroger is acquiring a chunk of the pharmacy business owned by Green Bay, Wis.-based retail chain Shopko Inc., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal brings pharmacy files at 42 Shopko stores – including 25 Wisconsin locations – to the Cincinnati-based grocery giant, which will transfer the subscriptions to Kroger-owned grocery stores near the affected Shopko pharmacy customers, the news outlet noted. Stores that will receive the prescriptions include Pick 'n Save, Metro Market and Copps locations, all of which are part of Kroger's Roundy's subsidiary.

Wisconsin Kroger locations to receive the new customers include ones in Appleton, Fond du Lac, Grafton, Green Bay, Kenosha, Kimberly, Manitowoc, Marshfield, Menasha, Neenah, Oshkosh, Plover, Racine, Rothschild, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, Sussex, Watertown, Wausau, West Bend and Wisconsin Rapids. Kroger also plans to add pharmacies early next month at two Pick 'n Saves – one in Wausau and another in Marshfield, the news outlet said.

Kroger has been investing in Wisconsin since it purchased Roundy's in late 2015, including infusing millions into Milwaukee-area Pick 'n Saves, upgrading its Roundy's commissary in Kenosha, and merging leadership at its Wisconsin division with that at its its Mariano's division, which operates in the Chicago area, to free up more capital to spend on enhancing the in-store experience. The Shopko deal marks Kroger's latest investment in Wisconsin.

Altogether, the Journal Sentinel reported $300 million of investments in Wisconsin since the Roundy's buy.

Kroger operates nearly 2,800 stores under a variety of banner names across the United States. The company ranks second on Progressive Grocer’s Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.

Shopko operates 363 stores in 24 states throughout the Central, Western and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 131 Shopko stores, five Shopko Express Rx stores, five Shopko Pharmacy locations and 222 Shopko Hometown stores.