Okay, so the City Cast Boise team has established that we’re WinCo fans. But how exactly did this iconic supermarket become America’s second-largest employee-owned company? Today we’re digging into the history of WinCo.
- It all started in Boise in 1967 when businessmen Ralph Ward and Bud Williams started Waremart Foods. Even under its original name, WinCo was focused on low prices from its conception.
- Waremart steadily grew into the Pacific Northwest through the 1970s, but Ward bought Williams’ stock, and died a few years later, leaving a question hanging over the future of the company.
- In 1985, Waremart employees banded together to establish an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), taking over the 17-store company from the Ward family.
- During the late 1990s, after a successful decade of growth under employee ownership, Waremart opened its first distribution center in Woodburn, Oregon, and changed its name to WinCo Foods.
- Under its new name, WinCo moved into Arizona, Nevada, and California with stores and distribution centers. It also built a new distribution center in Boise, which was — at the time — the largest free-standing building in Idaho. And in the last few years, WinCo has continued growing, moving into Texas and Montana, and now has 126 stores.
- WinCo also backs other company’s efforts to become employee-owned as a founding member of a group of companies called Certified Employee-Owned.
