The Company with Lower Prices and Better Benefits than Walmart - it's not Costco

[Flaxbee]

it's WinCo, out of Boise, Idaho. My mother regularly goes to WinCo; I think they're only in the west/southwest now so WinCo doesn't have the reach of CostCo, but one of the benefits of WinCo is that you don't have to buy in bulk which my mother, who lives in assisted living, wouldn't do -- she has nowhere to store 8000 rolls of toilet paper or a jumbo size can of coffee...

http://www.nationofchange.org/company-lower-prices-and-better-benefits-walmart-1376229055

WinCo, a small, employee-owned grocery store chain based in Boise, Idaho, is able to beat Walmart’s prices on goods while providing its employees with good benefits.

The company, which will soon have close to 100 stores with the latest openings in Texas, has almost 15,000 employees. Those who work at the store long enough qualify for a pension plan into which the company puts an amount equal to 20 percent of their yearly pay. More than 400 “front-line” workers — clerks, cashiers, and others who are not at the executive level — have retirement accounts that are worth at least $1 million, according to a company spokesman.

It also provides full health benefits for those who work at least 24 hours a week, beyond the requirements in the Affordable Care Act. While the company is private and hasn’t made wage information available, Glassdoor reports that cashiers and clerks make more than $11 an hour. Thanks to these benefits and wages, the company has low turnover. An industry analyst estimated that the average hourly worker stays with the company for more than eight years.

[LWolf]

1. I'd check it out if there were one in my area.

We do have a Costco, about 25 miles to the south. I don't shop there, because I live alone and don't want to buy jumbo sizes of everything. My senior citizen mom, who also lives alone, is a faithful Costco customer. If there is really something I want, I have her pick it up for me. That happens maybe once every couple of years.

[Oilwellian]

2. Starting pay for a cashier at Costco is $35,000 per year

That's far more than what $11 an hour offers. Not sure why you have to disparage Costco to pump up Winco...it's nice they're at least trying to pay their employees a more decent wage, but they certainly don't surpass what Costco offers their employees.

[Flaxbee]

3. I'm not disparaging Costco in any way. Don't see how you get that from my post.

Costco is great, too - this is to showthat there are other companies that are trying to do better, as an alternative for those who don't want to / can't afford to shop in bulk.

We used to go to Costco but being on a very strict weekly budget, it was tough. If I'd had the ability to apportion my purchases over 4 weeks, it would have been good. But while life was week-by-week, Costco just didn't work for me --- nor, I imagine, for anyone else on a very strict budget.

Costco tends to have wealthier shoppers, or at least those who can buy food in bulk and not worry about the rest of their weekly food budget.

[HiPointDem]

5. $35K = over $16/hr. I don't think costco starts everyone at 16+/hr. Last time I checked they

started at about $2 more than walmart in my state (minimum = $9). so that would be around $11.

[jmowreader]

4. Check Costco on glassdoor.com

There seem to be a lot of $10-$11 starting salaries there. There are Costco cashiers pulling $35,000/year but they've been there a very long time.

[Katashi_itto]

6. Damn. My first guess was NSA.

[burnodo]

7. LOL

[Katashi_itto]

8. :)