WinCo Foods, Inc. is a

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

, majority

employee-owned Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

American

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

chain based in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

, with retail stores in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It was founded in 1967 as a no-frills warehouse-style store with low prices. The stores feature extensive bulk food sections. Until 1999, it operated as Waremart Food Centers and

Cub Foods Cub is an American supermarket chain. It operates stores in Minnesota and Illinois. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu Inc., based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. History Beginnings Cub Foods was founded by Minnesota-based Hooley ...

(under a franchise agreement). However, WinCo began reestablishing Waremart Foods in 2017. , WinCo has 138

retail stores The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are ...

and six distribution centers, with over 20,000 employees. As of May 2022, WinCo Foods was No. 46 in

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

's list of the largest privately owned companies in the United States.

Overview

WinCo Foods is based in

. It was founded in 1967, and the company is mostly owned by current and former employees through an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

. WinCo operates distribution centers in: *

Woodburn, Oregon Woodburn is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated in 1889, the community had been platted in 1871 after the arrival of the railroad. The city is located in the northern end of the Willamette Valley between Portland and Sa ...

Myrtle Creek, Oregon Myrtle Creek is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 3,439 at the 2010 census. History Myrtle Creek was named for the groves of Oregon myrtle (also known as California laurel), growing nearby. A Myrtle Creek post ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

The company reduces

operating expenses An operating expense, operating expenditure, operational expense, operational expenditure or opex is an ongoing cost for running a product, business, or system . Its counterpart, a capital expenditure (capex), is the cost of developing or provid ...

purchasing Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly bet ...

directly from manufacturers and farmers; operating basic, no-frills stores; bagging service is not provided. In addition the company does not accept credit cards for payment (debit and WIC/EBT cards are accepted).

History

The company, originally called "Waremart", was founded in

, in 1967 by Ralph Ward and Bud Williams as a no-frills, warehouse-style grocery store focusing on low prices. In 1985, Waremart employees established an

and purchased a majority stake of Waremart from the Ward family, making the company employee-owned. In January 1991, Waremart opened an store in Boise to replace the two older Boise stores. At the time, Waremart was operating 16 stores in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

and had reported annual sales of more than $300 million.

WinCo Foods

In 1999, Waremart changed its name to "WinCo Foods". It is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsIndependence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

, Keizer, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

—are still branded as "Waremart by WinCo". WinCo Foods at Crossroads at Orenco Station - Hillsboro, Oregon

In 2007, WinCo Foods accused a competing chain,

Save Mart The Save Mart Companies is an American grocery store operator founded and headquartered in Modesto, California. It owns and operates stores under the names of Save Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value Foods. The stores are locat ...

, of directing a lawsuit filed by a neighborhood group ''Tracy First'' of

Tracy, California Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 93,000 at the 2020 census. Tracy is located inside a geographic triangle formed by Interstate 205 on the north side of the city, Inter ...

, to oppose city approval of a WinCo store. That same year, WinCo Foods opened in

Pittsburg, California Pittsburg is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is an industrial suburb located on the southern shore of the Suisun Bay in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, and is part of the Sacramento–San Joaquin R ...

. In early 2009, WinCo opened its first two stores in the

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, area. In October, 2009, WinCo expanded to

, adding two stores in West Valley City and Midvale. An additional Utah store opened in Roy on June 28, 2010. bringing the total number of stores expanded to Utah to five. WinCo previously operated stores in Utah under the Waremart banner prior to the company's name change. In January 2011, WinCo began signing leases for an expansion to Southern Nevada and

. The chain opened stores in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

and

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Val ...

on March 4, 2012. The company's first two stores in Arizona opened on April 1, 2012 in the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

area. The company has opened multiple locations in

, including the Dallas–Fort Worth area. WinCo was named as the sponsor for the

WinCo Foods Portland Open The WinCo Foods Portland Open was a golf tournament in Oregon on the Korn Ferry Tour. It debuted in August 2014 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, a suburb northwest of Portland. Northwest-based supermarket chain WinCo Foods was named a ...

in June, 2013. In late 2014, WinCo announced that it would enter the

Oklahoma City metro The Oklahoma City metropolitan area is an urban region in the Southern United States. It is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Oklahoma and contains the state capital and principal city, Oklahoma City. It is often known as the Okla ...

market, starting with stores in

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...

and

Midwest City Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The city was developed in re ...

, with plans to open two other locations in the metro. In March 2017, WinCo opened its 114th store in

Moses Lake, Washington Moses Lake is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,146 as of the 2020 census. Moses Lake is the largest city in Grant County. The city anchors the Moses Lake Micropolitan area, which includes all of Grant C ...

References

External links

WinCo Foods official website
{{Supermarkets of the United States, state=collapsed 1967 establishments in Idaho Companies based in Boise, Idaho Employee-owned companies of the United States Privately held companies based in Idaho Retail companies established in 1967 Discount stores of the United States Supermarkets of the United States Superstores in the United States

Overview

History

WinCo Foods

See also

References

External links