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GREEN BAY, Wis.—Shopko Optical, a leading provider of quality eyecare services across the Midwest, opened its 100th location late last month, in its home state of Wisconsin, and has subsequently added three more locations to its retail group. The 100th location is in Hartford Wis., and on Monday, Shopko Optical opened eyecare location #103 in Vadnais Heights, Minn., company executives told VMAIL. “We are very pleased with the 11 new store openings we have had to date in 2021,” chief operations officer Kirk Lauterback, FNAO, ABOC, told VMAIL.

“Additionally, we have moved one of our existing centers in Suamico, Wis., to a new, larger location and we have multiple other stores that are undergoing expansions.”

He added, “Ultimately, we anticipate approximately and additional 30 to 35 new stores over the remainder of the year.”

Shopko Optical, an affiliate of Monarch Alternative Capital since mid-2019, finished 2020 with 92 optical centers across the Midwest and Far West. The company noted at the end of last year that it managed to maintain “steady growth in hiring qualified optometrists and expanding its optical centers during a tumultuous year” that was impacted by COVID-19, as VMAIL reported.

The company opened 11 optical centers within new and existing markets in 2020 while also hiring 40 optometrists.
In 2019, Shopko Optical opened 80 free-standing optical centers in 180 days after it was acquired out of bankruptcy court in midyear during the liquidation of its former parent company, Shopko Stores.