WinCo Foods, Inc. is a privately held, majority employee-owned[5][6][7] American supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho, with retail stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas,[8] Utah, and Washington.

[12] The company, originally called Waremart, was founded in Boise, Idaho, in 1967 by Ralph Ward and Bud Williams as a no-frills, warehouse-style grocery store focusing on low prices.

Michael Read, WinCo's VP of Public and Legal Affairs, called the theory "part of the folklore".

[18] In October, 2009, WinCo expanded to Utah, adding two stores in West Valley City and Midvale.

[23] WinCo previously operated stores in Utah under the Waremart banner prior to the company's name change.

[33] WinCo also faced significant criticism in the treatment of a teenage girl accused of shoplifting at their Vancouver, Washington, store in 2017.

It was alleged that WinCo stores in Portland, Oregon, charged a hidden clean energy surcharge on non-grocery items.

[35] In October 2024, engineering firm JSA Civil filed a proposal for the first WinCo Foods location in Seattle.