GREEN BAY, Wis. — Shopko recently expanded the grocery departments of 127 stores nationwide to offer a larger selection of food and beverage products, the company announced on Tuesday. Of those stores, 17 include cooler and freezer sections. The company said the move is part of an ongoing effort to meet the needs of the local communities it serves, and to be a one-stop shopping destination for customers.

“In our effort to deliver the ultimate convenience to our loyal customers, Shopko continues to add to its growing and diverse line of products across all of its stores,” Shopko Stores senior vice president Greg Doran said in a statement. “As a proud member of the communities we are privileged to serve, we are continually striving to find ways to make our customers’ lives easier, and this grocery expansion is one more means for us to achieve that objective.”

The regional discounter said it offers more than 1,500 new products in its expanded market department, including juice, coffee, snacks, cookies, cereal and breakfast foods, baking products, canned goods, condiments and meal solutions. Additionally, cooler and freezer items will include eggs, milk, pizza and ice cream.

“Our customers asked that we expand our grocery section and we listened,” Doran stated. “We expect there to be great demand for the grocery items and are already looking at how we can increase our offerings moving forward.”

Shopko is owned by an affiliate of the private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on leverage buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in market-leading companies.  The $3 billion retailer operates more than 380 stores in 26 states throughout the Central, Western and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 131 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; 5 Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; 5 Shopko Pharmacy locations; and 249 Shopko Hometown stores, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities.