WinCo to Open 3rd Small-Format 'Throwback' Store

WinCo Foods is opening its third Waremart small-format store on Feb. 1, to be located in Keizer, Ore., and serve as a throwback to the grocer’s original locations.

First announced in fall 2016, the 40,000-square-foot store is designed to bring the low prices and quality service for which WinCo is known to a smaller population center than a full-sized WinCo store would traditionally serve. It still features the retailer’s signature Wall of Values, a full produce and meat selection, and a complete bulk food section with more than 700 items ranging from rice and beans to cereal, candy and pet food. An array of organic, natural and gluten-free items will also be available.

"Keizer is the perfect kind of community for a store like this one," said a WinCo Foods representative. "Waremart by WinCo is designed to meet the need for both quality groceries and the lowest possible prices while offering the world-class customer service our employee-owners are famous for."

The new store’s name harkens back to WinCo’s original Waremart name when it first opened in 1967.  Employing about 75-80 associates, the store will be open daily from 6 am to 11 pm.

WinCo acquired the lot on which the new store will operate – as well as other properties – following the merger of Safeway and Albertsons, Oregon's Statesman Journal newspaper reported. The site previously housed a Haggen store that opened and shuttered over a few months in 2015.

Based in Boise, Idaho, WinCo Foods operates 118 stores in nine states.