<p>WinCo is creating quite the buzz in the grocery industry with a model that rivals most traditional grocery retail standards. In a report in The Idaho Statesman, New York-based retail analyst Burt Flickinger III, who specializes in the art of grocery, dishes on WinCo's competitive edge. Though superstores like Walmart appear to be at the head of the pack, there are up-and-comers who have been lying in wait for their chance to take the lead.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>"WinCo arguably may be the best retailer in the Western U.S....WinCo is really unstoppable at this point," Flickinger states. "They're Wal-Mart's worst nightmare."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Flickinger has traveled to many WinCo locations and lingers in the store and talks to everyone he can. He asks vendors for intimate details about WinCo and gets the dirt on its discount structure, according to the report. The analyst is using WinCo Foods as a case study in shrewd retailing. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Flickinger notes that WinCo's lack of a membership fee for access to lower-priced goods made it popular enough to grow from a single store on Overland Road east of Orchard Street in 1967 into a regional chain with about $5.5 billion in sales last year. The retailer is now one of Idaho's largest for-profit companies.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The company has close to 100 stores open or coming soon with two stores opening in 2014 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and expansion plans in Texas as well. The Privately held company doesn't disclose profits and keeps a low profile; rarely engaging in self-promotion.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">With the addition of Ron Anderson as VP of Produce Operations, previously with Winn-Dixie, the retailer could also be gearing up for fresh produce enhancements and initiatives as the grocer continues to evolve. <a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ron-anderson/62/b57/287 " target="_new"> Ron Anderson</a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">WinCo saves money, and makes money, by cutting out the middleman. Where grocery stores traditionally rely on distributors to get their products, WinCo will send a truck of its own to a manufacturer's plant and stuff it with pallets of cherries, Fruit by the Foot, Hamburger Helper or Betty Crocker cake mix, according to the report. Buying large quantities of a given item yields WinCo a special price that can amount to a 10 percent to 50 percent discount, Flickinger says. The manufacturer also rewards WinCo for saving it the hassle and cost of loading and delivering the product by giving WinCo a hauling fee of $150 to $250 per shipment. Having just four distribution and storage centers, with trucks going straight to stores, means WinCo doesn't have the overhead of several people unloading trucks and stocking smaller warehouses, and store employees spending time checking and re-ordering inventory. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>WinCo also pays attention to promotionally priced items from manufacturers. Vendors note that WinCo cut Wal-Mart's direct store shipments on a lot of big brands by anywhere from 30 to 40 percent and in many cases, WinCo was doing 50 percent more volume per store on a lot of the big brands compared to the closest Wal-Mart Supercenter.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The retailer also saves money at the register requiring customers to bag their own groceries. The stores also take no credit cards — just debit, cash and checks which eliminates the fees card processors charge merchants. WinCo is also pragmatic, not pretty...WinCo keeps its stores clean and easy to navigate.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The company also runs on cash and not debt which can be seen in WinCo's expansion into seven Western states which has been funded mostly by its cash flow. The retailer also takes advantage of abandoned or vacant Home Depots or other big-box stores instead if purchasing or building new ones.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>It may once have been the age of the Walmart superstore, but the new players in the game are giving the retail giant a run for its money.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/03/2684628/winco-model-setting-new-grocery.html " target="_new"> Walmart and Winco </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
