Whats it like to take over as CEO of a retail chain in a recession?
A. It’s definitely challenging. First, because of the fact that no matter what you do, no matter how many ideas you have, you’ve got so many external factors that you’re dealing with. Never has there been the kind of dynamics that we’ve experienced in the last year. Secondarily, there’s the challenge of just being one of the last smaller, regional general stores, discount department stores. You’re competing with Wal-Mart and Target on the bottom end, that are so strong and powerful. And then, really, the Kohl’s and Penneys, the department chain-store guys. These guys are so strong and they’re so powerful. You really are fighting, day in and day out, just for a few scraps. Q. How is Shopko doing in the recession? A. We’re doing well, despite the challenges. We’re making money. We’re a profitable company. We’re growing our profit over year-ago levels. We have stabilized our sales. Sales are still a tremendous challenge. We’re still struggling to maintain year-ago sales levels, but we’re
