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WinCo Foods, a serve-yourself grocery-warehousing giant, is breaking into the Utah market with stores opening in Midvale and West Valley City.
The supermarkets, averaging 90,000 square feet, will open at 9 a.m. Monday. Hours are round-the-clock.
"We're like a traditional grocery store -- only bigger," said Mike Read, WinCo's vice president of public and legal affairs. "Our mission is to be the area's supermarket low-price leader."
Utah is an attractive market, he said, because of its demographics. The chain's business model is centered around young, growing families on a budget. But that idea had to wait until WinCo opened a fourth distribution center, this one in Boise, Idaho, north of the Beehive state.
The chain is different from large warehouse clubs, such as Costco, WinCo doesn't focus on large family-sized packaged goods and it doesn't charge membership fees. And unlike Walmart, WinCo is not a furniture, appliance or electronics showroom.
Shoppers enter WinCo stores through an aisle of heavy metal racks stacked high with deeply discounted goods. Its bulk-foods section is filled with more than 600 items, such as flour, spices, candy and pet foods. Inside aisles are stocked in traditional patterns, and there are a bakery, produce department, deli, seafood and meat counter.
Inside floors will have dozens of pallets filled with goods brought in by the truckload. And at the checkout stands, shoppers bag their own groceries.
Residents will be getting flyers in the mail, but as soon as the stores establish a presence, they won't be doing much advertising.
"Advertising is expensive," said Midvale store Manager Josh Harris. "We rely on word of mouth."
And store telephone numbers won't be found in commercial telephone books, but are printed on store receipts. Clerks will answer questions over the telephone, but they won't take time for any price quotes.
There's more no-frills shopping.
WinCo does not accept credit cards, but will take cash, checks, debit cards and food stamps. The chain accepts manufacturers coupons, but it won't honor coupons from competing stores.
"The company runs an upscale warehouse-type operation," said Dave Davis, vice president of the Utah Food Industry Association. "This will help consumers and other operators because competition helps others in the market to get sharper."
WinCo traces its beginnings to 1967 when Ralph Ward founded a discount grocery store in Boise, under the name Waremart. In 1985, the Employee Stock Ownership Trust purchased from the Ward family a majority interest, giving employees a an ownership stake.
In 1999, the chain it changed its name to WinCo, which stands for "winning company." WinCo operates 70 stores in Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon; the first letter of each state's name, for a time, served as an acronym for the company -- until the expansion into Utah.
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