It’s always been tough for regional players, so I don’t think anything has changed recently or specifically for them. The Shopko bankruptcy doesn’t seem like anything new. The slow move to online is a sad excuse, since online has been growing for many years – didn’t Shopko management think this was a real trend? Though an underdeveloped online presence and declining store traffic were the key reasons cited for their demise, I suspect that good, old-fashioned business execution probably played the biggest role. Naturally, failing CEOs rarely blame themselves or their own execution for the problems.

While I have some sympathy with the reasons given, they are all dynamics which have been in play for a very long time. Shopko should have found ways of mitigating or negating them. If you don’t have pricing power on your side, you better make sure that other aspects of the proposition – like store environment, range, service, etc. – are compelling. The blunt truth is that Shopko did not make an enormous effort on any of these things, nor did it push online when it should have. That’s why it is in difficulty.

Mediocracy. The middle of the road is where you find the roadkill of today’s retail. Shopko was average in most areas. Definitely not the worst, but it certainly didn’t stand out as different and relevant for today’s customers. An “underdeveloped” online presence is more than a chink in your armor, it is the virtual shelf and endless aisle that customers now expect as part of their end-to-end shopping experience. Today’s customers keep moving the goal posts. Shopko was trying to compete with yesterday’s horse-and-buggy retail model.

It’s hard to lay the blame for Shopko’s bankruptcy on one explanation. (Disclosure: I’m a former Kohl’s colleague and longtime friend of Shopko’s former CEO Paul Jones.) Did the private equity debt load eventually became too much to bear? Was it the acquisition of hundreds of Pamida stores and the decision to place a big bet on small-town retailing? Or was it the slow pace of e-commerce development compared to its competitors?

If I had to pick one reason, it would be the reach of stronger competitors in better locations. An example in my own backyard: Shopko’s store in the Milwaukee suburb of Grafton, Wisconsin (in the “old” shopping district) probably lost share when a power center opened three miles closer to the freeway — complete with Target, Meijer, Costco, Kohl’s and other big box stores. It’s hard to stay relevant and competitive under these kinds of circumstances.

It’s much more likely that what doomed Shopko was a decline in popularity of the mall experience, and a lack of differentiation. Did management ever ask (objectively) “what, if anything, is different about the Shopko experience?”

As a regional retailer, you have to look at your strengths and how you can compete against other national retailers and online. To just say that you failed because of e-commerce reducing traffic and national retailers getting better prices shows you did not manage your business that well. However, in this case, there is one justifiable additional problem — lack of investment by the private equity company.

To really compete, regional retailers must be very efficient, have great supply chains, knowledge of what sells and how local items can differentiate the stores. The lack of investment in modern IT solutions that can help the retailer be more focused, smarter and efficient allowing them to mitigate the advantages held by national retailers will bring the regional retailer down every time.

First, online sales get the buzz. Brick-and-mortar gets the dollars. E-commerce will remain a minority of total retail sales, somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of total. The vast majority of sales, over 85 percent, will continue to take place in brick-and-mortar stores.
Second, regional players need to leverage their distinct knowledge of their consumer’s needs and provide unique products, services and experiences tailored to that audience. It’s about localized choice, cost and convenience. Finally, as with all other retailers, regional players must have the foresight, fortitude and fearlessness to disrupt their own identity and legacy models.

Shopko failed because it wouldn’t adapt to today’s retail customer’s needs. Adapt or fail should be the slogan every retailer lives by. Poor inventory management, and failure to compete on the Internet are both excellent reasons to for any retailer to use but in reality, it is just another business that cannot adapt and eventually perishes. The story is the same over the years, only the reasons change for each bankruptcy, whether they are regional or national.