Idaho's WinCo Foods gets write-up in Time

The self-checkout line at WinCo in Idaho Falls

It's not really a David vs. Goliath battle. Idaho's WinCo Foods is simply doing what it has done since it became employee owned in 1985 and changed its name from Waremart  in 1999.

But it seems that after a writeup in the Idaho Statesman, Time magazine is paying attention. Here's the link to the piece in which the no-frills chain is called "Wal-Mart's worst nightmare": http://business.time.com/2013/08/07/meet-the-low-key-low-cost-grocery-chain-being-called-wal-marts-worst-nightmare/.

You can read it yourself, but here's the paragraph that caught my attention: In sharp contrast to Wal-Mart, which regularly comes under fire for practices like understaffing stores to keep costs down and hiring tons as a means to avoid paying full-time worker benefits, WinCo has a reputation for doing right by employees. It provides health benefits to all staffers who work at least 24 hours per week. The company also has a pension, with employees getting an amount equal to 20 percent of their annual salary put in a plan that’s paid for by WinCo; a company spokesperson told the Idaho Statesman that more than 400 non-executive workers (cashiers, produce clerks, and such) currently have pensions worth over $1 million apiece.