MONROE — Shopko closed its doors in June, but the optical center survived and opened in its new location Tuesday.
“We’re excited to be here,” said optical manager Crystal Pence of the new spot at 110 8th St. near Pick ‘N Save. “It feels like our new home.”
Before that, they were the sole occupants of the deserted Shopko store for months.
“It was weird and lonely,” said Pence, because they missed their teammates, but it became their “normal” for a while. They updated customers via post cards, email and Facebook.
“We’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response,” she said of the patient reaction to recent events. “Everybody’s very happy that we stayed in the community.”
Store hours
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
She said they started bringing items from the old space over last week and completed the move over that weekend.
“It’s bright. It is fresh,” said Pence of the new 1,800-square-foot space, which she said is roughly the same amount of room they had before. “It’s beautiful.”
A grand opening is planned for Oct. 24.
Dr. Christine Ward, OD, will now be the sole doctor for Shopko Optical. Dr. Jean Schemenauer, who was one of the doctors at Shopko Optical for more than 20 years, will no longer be practicing there. Currently Ward sees about 15 patients per day, four or five days a week.
Along with Pence and Ward there are five more employees, for a total of seven.
Pence said all services remain the same, including comprehensive eye exams and glasses repair, and all the same insurances are accepted.
Shopko filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 16 and announced March 18 that it would liquidate its retail operations after it could not find a sponsor for its business plan. Monroe’s location officially shuttered five months later. In between, the store’s pharmacy also closed, as did its in-house Payless ShoeSource.
