Winco Foods

WinCo Foods is a large, employee‑owned grocery operator known for full‑line, high‑volume supermarkets that emphasize low prices and straightforward shopping. Its stores offer a complete grocery assortment, including fresh produce, meat, bakery, bulk foods, and everyday household items, and tend to serve cost‑conscious shoppers across the western United States. Locations typically function as high‑traffic anchors within suburban and secondary trade areas, pulling frequent repeat visits that support other retailers in the same centers.

The company was founded in 1967 in Boise, Idaho, when Ralph Ward and Bud Williams opened a discount warehouse grocery store originally called Waremart. Over the following decades it expanded out of Idaho into neighboring states and adopted the WinCo Foods name as it grew into a regional chain. A pivotal milestone in its history was the transition to an employee‑owned structure through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, which has helped make WinCo one of the larger employee‑owned businesses in the country and ties store performance directly to the long‑term interests of its workforce.

As of June 2025, WinCo Foods operates about 140 stores across roughly ten western states and employs more than 22,000 people. The chain’s footprint is heavily concentrated in California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, with additional locations in Texas and Montana and a presence in other western markets. Stores are generally large‑format boxes that function much like warehouse supermarkets, with expansive bulk departments and broad assortments that can support destination shopping as well as routine weekly trips.

Over the last five years, WinCo has continued a pattern of measured, organic expansion rather than rapid national rollout. The company has filled in existing markets across the West while extending further into the Southwest, using its earlier entry into Texas as a base for continued growth in that region. Recent openings in markets such as Billings and Helena have solidified its presence in Montana, reflecting a willingness to enter new western states when logistics and distribution can support long‑term operations. Industry coverage also suggests that Colorado and New Mexico are under consideration for future growth as WinCo evaluates additional western territories.

Today, WinCo Foods operates at a scale that puts it among the more significant regional grocers in the country, with estimated annual revenue in the mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit billions. For landlords, brokers, and developers, the chain is often viewed as a stable, traffic‑driving anchor that prefers sizeable spaces, tends to sign long‑term leases, and brings consistent grocery demand to larger neighborhood and power centers. Its steady expansion across the West and Southwest, combined with its employee‑owned structure and track record in value‑oriented markets, has made WinCo a meaningful player in grocery‑anchored retail projects throughout its operating region.