of the early 1990s. 2000s In March 2000, shares of ShopKo hit a record $3.57, up 70% from the year before. Later that year, the firm announced that it would sell ProVantage to Merck & Co. for about $222 million. In May 2000, ShopKo agreed to buy P.M. Place Stores, a 49-location chain, for $22 million, with plans to convert those locations to Pamidas. Early in 2001, ShopKo announced the closings of 23 stores and a distribution center, cutting 2,500 jobs and bowing out of Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, and Kentucky. In April 2002 the company's CEO, William Podany, resigned. Jeffrey Girard became his interim replacement, until Sam Duncan took over in October. In 2005, ShopKo opened the first few "ShopKo Express" locations, which were smaller, and aimed at competition with Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy. Around that time, the chain exited the state of Colorado (some locations were acquired by JCPenney), and closed its Reno, Nevada locations. Late in 2005, ShopKo was acquired by Sun Capital Partners. In May 2006, Michael MacDonald took over as CEO. In 2007, Pamida spun off from ShopKo. Also in 2007, ShopKo rebranded, dropping the capital camel case "K" in its name and introducing a new logo., but Shopko Express stores retained the older style until fall 2008. In 2008, Shopko Express expanded into urban markets with the opening of a Green Bay, Wisconsin location, but this store was shuttered less than a year after it was opened. During the late 2000s, ShopKo started to anchor more shopping centers, such as the ones in Suamico, Wisconsin and North Branch, Minnesota. In April 2009, Michael MacDonald resigned as CEO, to become CEO of DSW, Inc., and was replaced by W. Paul Jones. In late 2009, Shopko started online shopping service. 2010s In May 2010, Shopko outsourced its IT services to HCL Technologies, based in Chennai, India. In the summer of 2010, Shopko opened its first two "Shopko Hometown" stores, which were converted from Pamida locations. In 2011, Shopko placed even more emphasis on its Hometown subsidiary, opening nine new locations and closing regular stores to focus on the Hometown stores. In 2012, a decade after it spun off from Shopko, Pamida merged with Shopko; all Pamida stores were rebranded as Shopko Hometown stores. The total cost for the remodel was estimated at $80 million. Later in 2012, W. Paul Jones resigned from the company's top post and