Executive championed expansion of Hometown store format

Persaud speaks at the 2016 NACDS Total Store Expo in Boston.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Retail and pharmacy industry veteran Andre Persaud has left Shopko Stores Operating Co. to pursue new opportunities.

Persaud has led a number of key initiatives since joining the general merchandise and pharmacy retailer in April 2015 as executive vice president of retail, a role in which he oversaw the company’s three operating divisions: Shopko, Hometown and Retail Health (pharmacy and optical).

He spearheaded the expansion of the Shopko Hometown, a smaller store format designed to serve smaller communities. The concept, which now accounts for 231 of Shopko’s 372 store locations, combines pharmacy services with a broad offering of national-brand and private-label apparel, toys, consumer electronics, seasonal items, everyday consumable items, and lawn and garden products in stores ranging from 15,000 to 35,000 square feet.

In addition, Persaud sharpened operating standards and execution across all divisions, which significantly improved the customer experience, and developed and piloted a new Shopko store format. He was also instrumental in turning around Shopko’s pharmacy business, spurring market share growth and rightsizing the cost structure.

Before coming to Shopko, Persaud was senior vice president of store operations at Burlington Stores, which operates more than 450 off-price apparel stores. Prior to that, he held in several senior executive roles at Loblaw Cos. from November 2009 to October 2012, most recently as senior vice president of central retail operations and central merchandising. He joined Loblaw after serving in senior leadership roles at Shoppers Drug Mart from July 2002 to November 2009, including as vice president of national operations for front store performance.

Persaud began his career as a pharmacist with Walmart Canada and became a pharmacy manager and district pharmacy manager before serving as Walmart’s national pharmacy operations manager for Canada from January 2000 to July 2002. He holds Bachelor’s of Pharmacy and MBA degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

He also has served as a member of the board of directors for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.