Shopko’s general counsel oversees change

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During his 14 years with Shopko Stores Inc., Peter Vandenhouten has witnessed many changes, but continues to find comfort in the company’s ranks.

“I remember all the Shopkos in the area from growing up,” said the Green Bay native and Shopko’s senior vice president-general counsel. “I felt really comfortable when I got here, with the culture and the hard-working nature of folks here in Green Bay. It was exactly what I thought it would be.”

Change has been somewhat of a constant during Vandenhouten’s time at Shopko, however.

A few years after he started with the company, Congress passed The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, requiring Vandenhouten to orchestrate numerous corporate governance changes and other compliance measures for the corporation.

Shortly afterward, a bidding war for the company ensued, ultimately resulting in the company going private in 2005.

Thereafter, Shopko started facing accelerated competition from other retailers, Vandenhouten said, including Wal-Mart and Target. When the recession hit, other general merchandise retailers started to close. But Shopko survived, Vandenhouten said, and continues to grow.

“We’re shifting basically from being a company that was on the defensive and being in maintenance mode,” he said, “to going on the offensive and being a true growth company.”

Much of that growth was the result of last year’s acquisition of department store chain Pamida, which more than doubled Shopko’s then 139 stores. In less than a year, the additional stores and pharmacies have been rebranded as “Shopko Hometown.”

“It’s been really exciting,” Vandenhouten said. “The integration of people, property and data, and switching them over to our way of doing business.”

The company is looking to add more stores, he said, while maintaining its rural community focus.

Throughout the changes, Vandenhouten said he has focused his legal department on crafting solutions instead of dead ends. He tells his staff members that they are “strategic business partners first,” he said, to avoid hearing the dreaded phrase “It’s stuck in legal” or being called the “sales prevention department.”

The key to rolling with the changes, he said, is for in-house counsel to view its role broadly.

“Be more than a legal technician; be a strategic business partner,” Vandenhouten advised. “Understand the business inside and out, and what your colleagues’ objectives are. Then establish a strong relationship and trust.

“Become the go-to person, not just for legal, but for getting things done. That’s how you add value.”