GREEN BAY, Wis. — Shopko Stores has appointed chief operating officer Mike Bettiga as interim chief executive officer.

The food and drug retailer said Wednesday that Bettiga replaces CEO Paul Jones, who left the company to pursue another opportunity.

"We appreciate the many contributions Paul Jones has made to Shopko during the past five years and wish him nothing but the best," Scott King, senior managing director of Sun Capital Partners, a private investment firm whose affiliate owns Shopko, said in a statement. "A national search is under way to select a new leader for the company.

"In the meantime, we are delighted to have Mike Bettiga, an experienced retail executive, serve as interim CEO," King added. "Mike has over 35 years of experience in the retail industry and served as a senior executive for many of those years. His leadership skills and industry knowledge will serve our customers and employees well during this interim period."

Bettiga started at Shopko as a pharmacist in 1977. Since then, he has held a number of positions, including executive leadership of store, pharmacy and optical operations; retail health merchandising; and responsibility for the Shopko Express stores. Bettiga was promoted to executive vice president and COO in 2009, with oversight of all retail health divisions, store operations, legal, real estate, corporate projects and business development.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as interim CEO for Shopko, a company that I have been an integral part of for most of my professional career," Bettiga stated. "We have ambitious plans for the future, including the continued rollout of the Shopko Hometown concept, and I look forward to leading the team on that effort and our other growth initiatives."

In March, Shopko finalized its merger deal with Pamida, creating a chain drug retailer with nearly 300 pharmacy locations in more than 20 states. Overall, the retailer has sales of $3 billion and operates about 350 stores in 22 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain, North Central and Pacific Northwest regions.

The company’s formats include 134 Shopko stores, five Shopko Express Rx stores and 12 Shopko Hometown locations. The Hometown format combines pharmacy services with an offering of national brands and private-label brands of apparel, home furnishings, toys, consumer electronics, seasonal items, and lawn and garden products in stores ranging from 15,000 to 35,000 square feet. Currently, Shopko is converting over 170 Pamida stores and pharmacies to the Shopko Hometown brand.