WinCo Foods launching automation project at Boise warehouse

Written By Warehouse Automation

Boise-based grocery giant WinCo Foods will start work on major expansion to its large distribution center along Interstate 84 in Boise, Idaho.

The center, which opened in 2009, serves stores throughout the Intermountain region and covers more than 700,000 square feet of space on Freight Street.

The retailer has secured a building permit from the City of Boise to launch the first significant expansion of the facility since it opened. The expansion will include an automatic storage and retrieval system or ASRS. These systems allow warehouses to more tightly pack goods by limiting floor space dedicated to employees and using technology like robotics to retrieve stored items.

Winco Foods will also add a new loading dock and plans to build a large cooler space, adding nearly 80,000 square feet of space along the north and east sides of the building.

WinCo notes that the expansion was called for in its initial 2009 plan, and the plan includes room for additional future expansion. The value of the expansion project is more than $13.8 million.

WinCo Foods : A world-renowned supermarket chain owned by its employees

The WinCo expansion comes in an area of Boise rapidly adding new industrial warehouse projects, including the AZEK Company, Amazon, and others.

WinCo Foods company operates more than 130 large warehouse-style grocery stores across the US. It started with a single store on Overland Rd. in Boise under the Waremart brand in 1967. Ralph Ward and Bud Williams launched the company – and after their deaths, employees purchased it and formed an employee stock ownership plan in 1985. Winco includes 20,000 employees and operates from Oregon to Texas. It is the nation’s third-largest employee-owned company.

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