Small Businesses Fill the Gap Left by Shopko

With the closure of all the Shopko stores nationwide, many Bighorn Basin residents are left wondering – “where do we shop now?”

The answer to that question is actually a small town economic success story. Amy Quick, the Wyoming Business Council’s Northwest Regional Director, reached out to the National Main Street Center to gather resources and ideas. She visited all four of the affected communities in the Basin – Powell, Greybull, Worland and Thermopolis – and conducted listening sessions with community leaders, local retailers and consumers.

What has been a pleasant surprise, according to Quick, is the way that other businesses in the communities have stepped up and begun to offer items that they could previously only find at Shopko.

While many are disappointed that the convenience of those types of stores is no longer available, Quick says the departure of the Shopko stores has been an opportunity to raise awareness of what the remaining small businesses in the communities can provide to their residents.

Quick says after compiling data from an online survey as well as the listening sessions and community visits, they will present a webinar on June 6^th that will offer some recommendations from the National Main Street Center on ways that small business owners and entrepreneurs can provide the resources and services that the residents of these small towns rely on.