ShopKo's presence in Utah continues to grow with the Saturday 9 a.m. grand openings of stores at 190 S. 500 West in West Bountiful, 955 N. Main in Spanish Fork and 4060 Riverdale Road in Riverdale, Weber County.
Opening the new stores brings to 14 the number of SkopKo outlets in Utah and another is scheduled to be opened in Sugar House later this year. The company will have 2,400 employees in Utah when the three stores open.Each store will have a pharmacy and optical center and departments featuring toys, housewares, sporting goods, records, health and beauty aids, automotive, fashion and fashion accessories and infant needs.
Jane E. Kresin, public affairs manager for ShopKo Stores Inc., which is based in Green Bay, Wis., said the West Bountiful store has 101,000 square feet and will have 175 employees.
Construction started last summer and was coordinated through Paulsen Engineering & Construction, Salt Lake City. Balling Engineering of Bountiful was the architectural and engineering company.
Participating in the grand opening will be West Bountiful Mayor Carl M. Johnson; Miss Davis County Angela Burnett; ShopKo regional vice president Gary Hammond; and Steve Roberts, store manager. Children will receive balloons, clowns and costumed characters will present entertainment and packs of ShopKo products will be given away in addition to several prize drawings.
The Spanish Fork store will have 71,000 square feet and 133 new positions. It was started last summer and coordinated through R & O Construction, Ogden. The architectural and engineering firm for the project was Eckhoff, Watson and Preator Engineering, Salt Lake City.
Participating in the grand opening at 9 a.m. will be Spanish Fork Mayor Marie Huff; Miss Utah Jennifer Nakken; ShopKo district director Jim Goetz; and Steven Schaetz, new store manager. Events will be similar to those at the other stores.
The Riverdale store has 94,000 square feet and resulted in 215 new jobs. Construction started last summer and coordinated through R & O Construction, Ogden. The architect was Korsunsky Krank Erickson, Minneapolis, Minn., and the engineering firm was Eckhoff, Watson and Preator.
Grand opening activities, under the director of store manager, Bob Carroll, a 20-year veteran with ShopKo, will be similar to the other stores.
ShopKo has 109 stores in 13 states and last year had $1.6 billion in sales.