About
In 1985, the WinCo Foods Employee Stock Ownership
Trust (Employee Pension Plan), headed by then
president Bill Long and with full support of store
personnel and management, purchased from the Ward
family a majority interest of WinCo, giving WinCo
employees a real ownership stake in the company.
The company continued its rapid growth and by 2000
had replaced a majority of its retail stores with
updated and expanded facilities.
In 1998, WinCo opened a new 900,000 square foot
grocery and perishable distribution center in
Woodburn, Oregon and in May of 2000 opened a
110,000 square foot health and beauty, gourmet and
non-food distribution center in Myrtle Creek,
Oregon. More recently in June of 2004, WinCo
opened an over 700,000 square foot grocery and
perishable distribution center in Modesto,
California and in 2009 another one in Boise, Idaho
that allowed for an expansion into Utah.
In October 19th of 2009 WinCo started its
expansion into Utah (the first venture into a new
state since the purchase of 1985) by opening the
first two ever WinCo Foods stores in the state on
the same day (Midvale City and West Valley City).
Later in 2010 the company plans to return to an
area it once occupied under the banner of Waremart
Food Centers, Ogden, UT while continuing to expand
its presence in the state by breaking ground in
other cities. WinCo is also currently executing a
remodeling and expansion plan to many of its older
facilities throughout the chain.
For over 40 years WinCo Foods has fostered a
tradition of success by focusing on very large
stores with a wide selection of national brands at
prices below our competition. In addition, the
very nature of having employee stockholders that
have seen their Employee Stock Ownership Plan
(Pension Plan) grow at a 21.51% annual compound
growth rate creates an extremely dedicated
workforce. This has made WinCo a very successful
company, one which in 1998 was listed as #266th on
Forbes Magazine's List of 500 largest Privately
Held Companies and most recently in 2009 climbed
to the 92nd spot on the list.
WinCo is continuing this record of success, now
operating 71 stores in six states (Washington,
Idaho, California, Nevada, Oregon and Utah) with
over 13,000 employees and continues to grow by
opening new stores and adding new members to the
company every year.