industry retail grocer founded 1967 headquarters boise idaho u.s. number of locations 107 1 key people gary piva chairman steven goddard president ceo richard charrier coo david butler cfo revenue us 4.73 billion 2011 2 number of employees 15 000 2015 1 website www.wincofoods.com winco foods inc. is a privately held majority employee owned 3 4 5 american supermarket chain based in boise idaho with retail stores in arizona california idaho nevada oregon texas 6 utah and washington . it previously operated stores as waremart food centers and cub foods under a franchise agreement until 1999 . as of july 2016 it has 107 retail stores and five distribution centers with over 15 000 employees . 1 7 contents 1 overview 2 history 3 see also 4 references 5 external links overview edit winco foods is based in boise idaho . it was founded in 1967 and most of the company ownership is held by current and former employees through an employee stock ownership plan . winco currently operates five distribution centers in woodburn oregon ; myrtle creek oregon ; boise idaho ; phoenix arizona ; and modesto california and has a total of just over 15 000 employees company wide . 1 it reduces operation expenses by purchasing directly from manufacturers and farmers ; accepting cash and debit cards but not credit cards ; having basic no frills stores ; and not providing bagging service . 8 history edit from 1967 to 1999 winco operated as waremart food centers . in 1967 it was founded in boise idaho as waremart by ralph ward and bud williams . 5 9 in 1985 an employee stock ownership plan purchased a majority interest of waremart from the ward family giving waremart employees an ownership stake in the company . 5 9 in january 1991 waremart opened an 82 000 square foot store in boise to replace the two older boise stores . 10 at the time waremart was operating 16 stores in the northwest and had reported annual sales of more than 300 million . 10 in 1999 waremart changed its name to winco foods . according to the company the name winco is a portmanteau of winning company ; however the company also claims as a fun fact that it also refers to the five states where the company originally operated stores washington idaho nevada california and oregon . 11 for reasons that are not specified on the company s website one store in independence oregon retains the waremart name . 12 store in the orenco area of hillsboro oregon in 2007 winco foods accused a competing chain save mart of directing a lawsuit filed by a neighborhood group tracy first of tracy california to oppose city approval of a winco store . that same year winco foods opened up in pittsburg ca. 13 in early 2009 it opened its first two stores in the spokane washington area . 14 in october 2009 winco expanded to utah adding two stores in west valley city and midvale . 9 15 16 an additional utah store opened in roy on june 28 2010 . 17 18 bringing the total number of stores expanded to utah to five . 19 winco previously operated stores in utah under the waremart banner prior to company s name change . 9 20 in january 2011 winco began signing leases for an expansion to southern nevada and arizona . 21 the chain opened stores in las vegas and henderson nevada on march 4 2012 . 22 the company s first two stores in arizona opened on april 1 2012 in the phoenix area . 23 the company has opened multiple locations in texas including the dallas fort worth area . 1 24 25 in late 2014 it was announced that winco will enter the oklahoma city metro market starting with a store in midwest city with plans to open multiple locations in the metro . 26 see also edit companies portal cub foods list of companies based in idaho list of supermarket chains in the united states references edit a b c d e winco corporate site . retrieved july 7 2016 . winco foods . forbes . 2011 . retrieved 2011 08 13 . elliot zwiebach 2013 06 24 . winco s employee owners speak out . retrieved 2013 08 31 . winco foods llc company profile . hoovers . dun & bradstreet . retrieved 26 october 2015 . a b c winco foods . retrieved 31 august 2013 . eighty percent of the company is employee owned . zwiebach elliot january 31 2014 . winco sets first two texas openings . supermarket news . retrieved march 21 2014 . zwiebach elliot june 24 2013 . winco goes for the win . supermarket news . retrieved september 1 2013 . tuttle brad 7 august 2013 . meet the low key low cost grocery chain being called walmart s worst nightmare . time . retrieved 16 august 2015 . a b c d history . winco foods . retrieved 2013 10 22 . a b idaho s largest supermarket set to open monday at boise . lewiston morning tribune . 27 january 1991 . faqs at wincofoods.com winco corporate site monmouth st independence oregon . wincofoods.com . retrieved 16 august 2015 . hidden billionaire found with food fortune in california . bloomberg . august 2013 . retrieved 22 september 2013 . in tracy california winco accused save mart in 2007 of directing a lawsuit filed by neighborhood group tracy first against the city for approving a new winco store according to a state court document . winco makes spokane debut eyes utah . supermarket news . 2009 . retrieved 7 june 2012 . winco foods building utah sites . supermarket news . may 19 2009 . retrieved 31 august 2013 . new winco dc facilitates utah growth . supermarket news . 23 september 2009 . retrieved 31 august 2013 . winco foods llc 2010 . winco foods announces grand opening of new store in roy utah . prnewswire.com . retrieved 25 june 2010 . idaho grocery store chain coming to utah . ksl.com . may 15 2009 . retrieved 31 august 2013 . winco opening five new stores in utah . the daily herald . 2009 . retrieved 14 october 2009 . winco eyes eastward expansion . 8 august 2011 . retrieved 31 august 2013 . winco opened a distribution center in boise late in 2009 and it said at the time it needed 10 stores in utah to make that facility efficient . it has opened five of those stores already so it seems it is looking to capitalize on the move into utah and then go into other areas before refocusing its efforts on southern california . winco grocery chain plans arizona expansion . east valley tribune . 23 january 2011 . attention shoppers winco foods opens 2 stores in southern nevada . las vegas sun . 5 march 2012 . retrieved 7 june 2012 . winco to open new grocery stores in phoenix . phoenix business journal . 2 march 2012 . trainor gene 5 july 2013 . winco picks site in north richland hills for supermarket . star telegram . retrieved 7 july 2013 . north richland hills is the third north texas location selected by the company . a store at sycamore school and crowley roads in south fort worth is expected to open early next year along with another in mckinney . the company had focused its business in seven western states including california oregon and washington . halkias maria 1 august 2013 . north carolina grocer to open dallas stores in turtle creek village and near the arboretum . the dallas morning news . retrieved march 8 2016 . bailey brianna october 30 2014 . idaho based grocer plans midwest city store . newsok.com . midwest city oklahoma the oklahoman . retrieved march 8 2016 . external links edit winco foods official website v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods family fare fairway market fareway festival foods festival foods minnesota food giant food city foodarama foodland foodland hawaii foodtown pathmark gelson s gerland corporation giant eagle grand mart gristedes grocery outlet harmons harps food stores h e b heinen s fine foods highland park market homeland houchens hugo s hy vee ingles inserra supermarkets jerry s foods jungle jim s international market karns quality foods key food super fresh the food emporium king kullen kings super markets kuhn s quality foods lewis food town lion supermarket lowe s market lowes foods lund food holdings magruder s marc s market basket market of choice marsh supermarkets martin s super markets meijer met foods minyard food stores miracle mart mollie stone s markets morton williams new deal supermarket new seasons market niemann foods no frills supermarkets nugget markets pcc natural markets petrini s piggly wiggly piggly wiggly carolina co. pink dot price chopper price mart price chopper supermarkets publix pueblo raley s supermarkets red owl redner s markets remke markets rice epicurean markets ridley s family markets roche bros. rosauers supermarkets rouses russ s market save mart supermarkets saverite schnucks scolari s food and drug seafood city sedano s sellers bros. sendik s food market sentry foods seven mile market shop n save smart & final spartannash sprouts farmers market stanley stores star market stater bros. stew leonard s strack & van til straub s markets sullivan family of companies super dollar discount foods super one foods super saver foods b & r stores the fresh market times supermarkets tops friendly markets united grocery outlet urm stores valu king victory supermarkets village market food center weaver street market wegmans weis markets westborn market western beef winco foods woodman s markets yoke s fresh market zabar s zupan s markets defunct banners a mart a & p food basics pathmark waldbaum s abco foods alpha beta american stores appletree markets belle foods big bear stores big star markets bloom bottom dollar food bruno s buttrey food & drug byrd s carter s foods chatham clemens markets colonial stores dahl s foods daniel reeves stores david s supermarkets davis food city delchamps deskins dick s supermarket dominick s eagle food centers eberhard s eisner food stores farmer jack felpausch finast fisher foods