Photo by Karin Elton Shoppers enter the Shopko store in Marshall after news broke that the retail company based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is closing all locations.

MARSHALL — Shopko is closing its remaining 120 department stores — including Marshall — by mid-June, ending a 57-year era for the Wisconsin-based retail chain.

An Associated Press news report on Monday said the company was unable to find a buyer for its business and that it will start the liquidation process. WLUK-TV reported that the Shopko closings will affect an additional 5,000 employees.

“This is not the outcome that we had hoped for when we started our restructuring efforts,” Shopko CEO Russ Steinhorst said in a statement.

Marshall is among 22 Minnesota Shopko stores on the list of remaining stores to close.

“We got a call (Monday morning),” Marshall Shopko manager Dave Naughton said. “The company is liquidating and closing all the stores. There was speculation for months about who might buy it or who might not. Evidentially there was some interest. They were trying to sell it, but in the end, it didn’t get sold.”

Naughton said the Marshall store currently has about 55 employees.

“We let the employees know right away — at least the ones we could get ahold of,” he said.

Local customers were gradually beginning to learn about the Shopko closings as well.

“I think it’s too bad,” Redwood Falls resident Dan Roiger said. “Shopko is a good store. That’s a lot of jobs and it was just a nice place to go.”

Whitney Hansen of Ivanhoe said she learned about the store closings on social media.

“I’m kind of sad about it,” Hansen said. “You could find some pretty good deals here.”

Hansen estimates that she shops at the Marshall Shopko store once or twice a week.

“I do like coming to Shopko because you can find some different things here than you can find at Wal-Mart, especially the clothes,” she said. “I have two kids and I get a lot of decent stuff on clearance at Shopko for the kids. I’m not an online shopper either. I’d rather go there and try it on.”

While losing a big business in the community is unfortunate, Marshall Economic Development Authority Director Tara Onken said it doesn’t come as a complete shock.

“We know the retail landscape is changing right now all over the United States,” Onken said. “It’s a problem that’s definitely not unique to Marshall. Everybody’s feeling it. Retail is hard for all communities because the of the internet. It has a huge impact on how people make their purchasing decisions.”

In looking toward the future, Onken said the EDA will do everything they can to connect with the Shopko building ownership, to help redevelop the property into a fitting use.

“We can look at it as now, Marshall will have a vacant building we can market for a different purpose,” she said. “The last thing we want is for a building to be sitting empty in one of our three main retail areas in town. So we’ll continue to focus on improving our economy by bringing in business or industry that increases our tax base and creates jobs.”

Looking at the situation optimistically, Onken said area consumers are fortunate to have other options still left in Marshall.

“With development, it takes time and good things don’t happen overnight,” she said. “Consumer shopping habits are driving the retail market — all the more reason why it is important to support our local businesses.”

The first Shopko store was built in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1962.

In December, Shopko announced its plan to close 39 stores in 19 states in addition to closing 22 Shopko pharmacies — including the Marshall pharmacy — in Minnesota and five neighboring states.

In January, the Wisconsin-based retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection and announced 38 more store closings. Prior to that, Shopko operated about 360 stores in 24 states.

In February, the number of Shopko stores to close reached 250 — roughly 70 percent of its locations. The retail chain scaled back business and attempted to work through bankruptcy to try and re-establish profitability and perhaps appeal to potential buyers.

Bankruptcy court documents reveal that 22 Minnesota stores will close in June. Including Marshall, remaining Shopko locations to close are: St. Cloud, Mankato, Rochester, Winona, Fairmont, Duluth, North Branch, Moose Lake, Mora, Two Harbors, Ely, Fergus Falls, Aitkin, Perham, Glenwood, Morris, Roseau, Luverne, Pipestone, Windom and Kasson.

Besides Minnesota, the remaining 98 Shopko stores on the list to close are from 10 different states — Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

June 16 is the anticipated closing date for the 120 Shopko stores. The liquidation process at the newly-identified stores is likely to be similar to what has occurred with recently-closed stores, where discounts to customers slowly increase over time until most or all of the inventory is sold.