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Pamida Historical Timeline
| 1948 |
Jim Witherspoon and Lee Wegener begin operating a “service merchandiser” business, providing supermarkets across a five-state area with health and beauty aids, housewares, records and tapes, and some softlines (clothing, footwear, jewelry, linens and towels) items.
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| 1963 |
Witherspoon and Wegener open their first retail store in Knoxville, Iowa, as part of the Gibson Products Company. The store was so successful, a second location was opened in Oskaloosa, Iowa, just two weeks later.
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| 1963-1970’s |
Rapid growth pattern continues, and Witherspoon and Wegener’s concept expands into small towns throughout the Midwest and West Central United States.
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| Late 1970’s |
The relationship with Gibsons ends, and the Pamida name begins appearing on the stores. The name represents the first the first two letters of the first names of Witherspoon’s three sons -- Pat, Mike and David. In addition to hardlines (hardware, housewares, automotive, electronics, sporting goods, health and beauty aids or toys), softlines and seasonal merchandise, the company also operates its own Pharmacy division.
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| 1981 |
Witherspoon and Wegener sell the company to its employee teammates through an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP).
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| 1986 |
CitiCorp Capital Investors, Ltd. acquires a principal financial interest in Pamida.
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| Late 1980’s |
Pamida modernizes the merchandising layout of its stores, converting them to a racetrack prototype with a special emphasis on apparel categories. Point of Sale (POS) technology is also installed into all Pamida stores.
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| 1990 |
Pamida becomes a publicly-traded company on the American Stock Exchange.
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| 1999 |
ShopKo Stores, Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., purchases Pamida, operating the company as a separate division.
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| 2005 |
ShopKo Stores, Inc. is purchased by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm. Pamida is separated from the ShopKo umbrella. Pamida reestablishes its corporate headquarters in Omaha, Neb.
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| 2007 |
Pamida launches aggressive growth plan, opening nine new stores and three store relocations. Pamida also purchases numerous pharmacies.
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