WORLAND — Big Horn Basin communities are teaming up with Wyoming Business Council and National Main Street Center as they look to fill product gaps as Shopko stores close this spring.

According to Wyoming Business Council Northwest Regional Director Amy Quick, “I cover the four counties of the Big Horn Basin: Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie. When the first Shopko closures were announced, I was in close contact with the economic development professionals in the three communities initially affected (Greybull, Thermopolis and Worland), and everyone was very concerned about what it would mean for their residents and businesses.

“I reached out to the National Main Street Center, which we work closely with for our Wyoming Main Street programs, to see what resources or ideas they might have and started working with Matt Wagner, vice president of revitalization programs, on an initiative to look at both short- and long-term ways to address the situation, including data collection, education and capacity building. Once it was announced that all Shopko stores will be closing nationwide, including 13 stores in Wyoming and additionally Powell in our region, the situation immediately became more concerning and we expanded the scope of the project.”

Wagner said, “The National Main Street Center has a history in Wyoming through the Wyoming Main Street Program of working with retailers and examining retail markets within rural Wyoming communities as well as more than 1,600 nationally.  Thus, when the closures were announced we were asked to explore how communities might transition in both the short and long run given the pace at which retailing is changing nationally.”

Quick said that last week, she and Wagner made half-day visits to each of the communities affected in Northwest Wyoming: Powell, Greybull, Worland, and Thermopolis with the Worland visit on Wednesday, April 17.

“Those visits consisted of multiple focus group listening sessions with community leaders, local retailers, and consumers as well as community tours. Prior to these visits, economic developers in each of the communities conducted informal inventories of businesses with product categories similar to Shopko,” Quick said.

Quick said that the work in the Northwest region is being used as a pilot project to launch a larger statewide initiative where “we can take the information and best practices we learn here and share it with other communities so they can replicate it with assistance from the Wyoming Business Council, Small Business Development Center, Market Research Center, local economic developers and other community leaders.”

WORLAND VISIT

According to Washakie Development Association Executive Director LeAnn Baker, the group in Worland met with one focus group in the morning on Wednesday, April 17, and then the Wyoming Business Council representatives including Quick, Wagner, Baker and Worland Building Official Randy Adams toured the entire community making brief stops at the Washakie Medical Center, Washakie Museum and Cultural Center, Worland Aquatic Center and other amenities. They also looked at the empty storefronts and the industrial park.

While the meetings were being set up, Baker said that she was reaching out to stores in Worland to see who might be able to fill the merchandise gaps that were opening up with the closing of Shopko.

“Worland was blessed because Bomgaars came in and filled some of the gaps, not all, where some of these other towns didn’t have that happen,” Baker said.

She had identified some stores that could fill the gaps. During the tour on Wednesday, April 17, they visited Bomgaars, Kennedy Ace, King’s Carpet One and Brown’s Western Appliance, who are considering carrying product lines that Shopko used to carry.

Baker added, “Worland is ahead of some of the communities. We have some great complimentary businesses.” She also noted that the pharmacists from Shopko have purchased property to build and operate their own pharmacy.

FOCUS GROUP

The third session in Worland was a 45-minute meeting with a diverse focus group that included people of different ages, gender and socioeconomic status. They sought information from the focus group on how often they shopped at Shopko, where they planned to shop now and what they purchased when they did shop at Shopko.

She said the results were mixed with some shopping a few times a year to others shopping at Shopko a few times a week.

Regarding all four meetings in the region, Wagner said, “They were very productive, in that while market data is important, input from users gives you firsthand information on how consumers may react with their shopping habits, what’s important to them, such as price, quality, selection, and certain product categories. With these focus groups you can go very deep in your understanding of the impact.”

Quick added, “Each community went above and beyond to bring diverse groups of people to the table to share their insights into the Shopko closures and larger retail discussion. I was very impressed with everyone’s engagement and willingness to share their feedback. It was certainly a testament to the strength of our small communities.”

Baker said they received good information from the focus group, but she felt the process also helped those in the focus group to open their minds to the fact that businesses are in business to profit and have employees. “Not everything is profitable in a small population. You just don’t get to have everything in Worland that you can have in a big city,” Baker said.

“We may lose some [products], but we may also provide an opportunity for some of our local businesses to grow,” Baker said.

Some things that have been identified as gaps are women’s shoes, women’s clothing and undergarments, discount furniture, some outdoor sporting good items, home goods and electronics.

She added that identifying gaps was not a way to criticize current businesses but an opportunity to show local businesses where they could expand and grow.

Wagner said, “Many business owners are being proactive at examining their own product lines, talking with suppliers that they work with and seeing how they may be able to expand into complementary product areas.  Some of that is already taking place in areas such as bedding/linens, pet supplies, some electronics like TVs, etc.  Nationally, certain aspects of apparel and shoes categories have been difficult for both department stores like Shopko and “mom and pop” retailers due to the impacts of online shopping. Thus in particular, I think given the need for so many varieties and sizes, smaller retailers need to be highly boutique/specialized (like construction or agriculture clothing) or thrift, to offer a lower price point.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Baker said Wagner will go back to his office, “digest what he’s heard at these four communities and add that to some market research data” and eventually develop a report to be presented in a webinar on June 6.

Wagner said, “Working with the Wyoming Business Council, who are driving this effort, we plan to follow-up with a webinar in June to present the findings from the focus groups, a survey (which will go out this week) and market analysis. The findings will be around which categories we sense can be recaptured either in the form of expansion and/or new business opportunities, as well as programs communities may want to establish in order to facilitate this effort. In addition, we plan to hold a regional workshop in the near future to address longer-term growth opportunities by building a support system for new entrepreneurs so that there are pipelines for new businesses to grow and expand within the region.”

The problems Worland and other communities are going through in trying to replace Shopko and other businesses is not unique to the Big Horn Basin or Wyoming, Wagner said, “There is certainly a great deal of retail contraction across the U.S. We are overbuilt in the amount of retail square footage and that is being further exasperated by the growth of online retailing.  However, much of the impact has been felt by the national chain and big box stores.  Most “mom and pop” retailers are aligned well with current consumer trends demanding unique products, experiential shopping opportunities in which they can be educated, witness a product being made or be socially engaged.  This is something that is hard to do in an online environment and thus gives independent store owners in small towns a great opportunity to compete.”

Regarding online sales, Baker said e-commerce is part of the issue for small businesses. “It is so simple, it is so convenient and often times appears to be less expensive,” Baker said, adding that across the nation people see big chain stores closing. “These big retailers are gone, there’s no one in the pipeline waiting to move into these communities where Shopko is leaving,” Baker said.

She added that they have reached out to Walmart but Walmart’s focus right now is on e-commerce [and competing with Amazon].

“We are going to have to take care of our community. It starts here with how we shop, how we can help our businesses to be profitable, how we can support one another. Those types of concepts, although they sound traditional, that’s how small communities are going to survive. When you choose to live in a small community you are making a lifestyle choice.

“We’re going to evolve and adapt. Worland is a strong community and there are so many positives right now, signs that Worland is alive and well,” Baker said.