WinCo Foods
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| Type | Private/employee-owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail grocer |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Boise, Idaho |
| Number of locations | 86 |
| Key people | Gary Piva, Chairman Steven Goddard, President/CEO Richard Charrier, COO |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor, tobacco, bulk foods, pizza |
| Revenue | US$4.73 billion (2011) [1] |
| Employees | 14,200 (2012)[2] |
| Website | www.wincofoods.com |
WinCo Foods is an employee-owned supermarket business headquartered in Boise, Idaho. WinCo previously operated stores as Waremart Food Centers and Cub Foods before a decision by employees to change the name to WinCo Foods occurred in 1999. As of 2012, WinCo operates 86 stores in seven Western states and employs more than 14,200 people. The company also owns four distribution centers in Woodburn, Oregon, Myrtle Creek, Oregon, Modesto, California and Boise, Idaho.
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History [edit]
In 1967, Ralph Ward and Bud Williams opened a discount warehouse grocery store under the Waremart name in Boise, Idaho.[3] In 1985, an employee stock ownership plan headed by then president Bill Long and with full support of store employees and management, purchased a majority interest of Waremart from the Ward family, giving Waremart employees an ownership stake in the company.[3]
In January 1991, after two years of planning, Waremart opened an 82,000 square-foot store in Boise and closed its two older Boise locations.[4] The new store was then the largest supermarket in Idaho's history.[4] At the time, Waremart was operating 16 stores in the Northwest and had reported annual sales of more than $300 million.[4]
In 1999, Waremart changed its name to WinCo Foods since they noticed customer confusion with other large "mart" stores, such as Kmart and Wal-Mart. The company decided to use the name "WinCo," which stood for "winning company." Some employees of the company suggested that the name be an acronym for the five states where its seventy stores were located: Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon, but the first suggestion won in a vote.[5]
In recent years, WinCo has set its sights on several new markets. In early 2009, the company opened its first two stores in the Spokane, Washington area.[6] In October, 2009, WinCo expanded to Utah, with the opening of two stores in West Valley City and Midvale.[3] The expansion was WinCo's first venture out of its five-state core market since the employee purchase in 1985.[3] An additional Utah store opened in Roy on June 28, 2010.[7] bringing the total number of stores expanded to Utah to five.[8] WinCo's entry into Utah has marked a return to the state as the chain operated stores in the state under the Waremart banner prior to company's name change to WinCo.[3]
WinCo began signing leases for an expansion to Southern Nevada and Arizona in January 2011.[9] The chain opened stores in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada on March 4, 2012, [10] The company's first two Arizona stores opened on April 1, 2012 in the Phoenix area.[11]
Operations [edit]
The privately held chain is owned by the WinCo Foods Employee Stock Ownership Trust (Employee Pension Plan), and is based in Boise, Idaho.[2] WinCo currently operates four distribution centers in Woodburn, Oregon, Myrtle Creek, Oregon, Boise, Idaho, and Modesto, California, and has a total of just over 14,000 employees company-wide.[2]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "WinCo Foods". Forbes. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
- ^ a b c "WinCo Foods Company Overview". Hoover's, Inc. 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- ^ a b c d e "History - WinCo Foods". WinCo Foods.
- ^ a b c "Idaho's largest supermarket set to open Monday at Boise". Lewiston Morning Tribune. 1/27/1991.
- ^ "WinCo Foods Inc. -- Company History". Funding Universe. 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ "WinCo Makes Spokane Debut, Eyes Utah". Supermarket News. 2009. Retrieved 6/7/2012.
- ^ WinCo Foods, LLC (2010). "WinCo foods announces grand opening of new store in Roy, Utah". PR NewsWire. Retrieved 6/25/2010.
- ^ "WinCo opening five new stores in Utah". The Daily Herald. 2009. Retrieved 10/14/2009.
- ^ "WinCo grocery chain plans Arizona expansion". East Valley Tribune. 1/23/2011.
- ^ "Attention shoppers: WinCo Foods opens 2 stores in Southern Nevada". Las Vegas Sun. 3/5/2012. Retrieved 6/7/2012.
- ^ "WinCo to open new grocery stores in Phoenix". Phoenix Business Journal. 3/2/2012.
