WinCo: worker-owned grocery chain pays benefits, pensions, living wages, lower prices than Walmart

I'm a Costco fan, mainly for bulk and their meat Winco does have really good pizza though. I go there all the time for it by the slice or a whole pizza. Their prices are competitive. If Winco can make it work, more power to'em!

However the Vietnamese family market a few miles down the road get's my business for veggies, greens, fruit and herbs. It's all family owned, they work the fields and will bring fresh produce right on in. Cant get any fresher! Yesterday bought Cucumbers 8 for $1 and six bundles of greens for $2 and the Strawberries are to die for!

Originally posted by solongandgoodnight
reply to post by dominicus

 

thanks! this made me smile. it seems true capitalism is at work. or at least it does to me. I wish them the best.

It's fascinating to see how we differ: you think this is capitalism at work, I think it is anarchy. But one thing is for sure: we're both happy to see this happen

Originally posted by macman
reply to post by dominicus

 

Well, that is great to hear. Good for them.

Last I checked though, businesses are free to charge what they want, pay what they want and buy from who they want.

Yep, and yet the Government still Subsidizes wall-marts business model, from Government exemptions to health care, to cheep trade tariffs with china.

Free market indeed...

You have Winco and Costco, doing fine, and Walmart doing better sucking at the government teat.

Originally posted by ForteanOrg

Originally posted by solongandgoodnight
reply to post by dominicus

 

thanks! this made me smile. it seems true capitalism is at work. or at least it does to me. I wish them the best.

It's fascinating to see how we differ: you think this is capitalism at work, I think it is anarchy. But one thing is for sure: we're both happy to see this happen

How is it not capitalism? Someone starts a store. It is successful and he sells it--capitalism.

Former CEO and some senior employees buy the store and it makes profit for them and their employees--capitalism.

I fail to see any anarchy involved.

I saw something like this in Madison, WI but it wasn't a WinCo I don't think. It was an employee-owned grocery store and it seemed pretty big, clean, and new looking. We didn't end up going in and checking it out because there were signs everywhere stating they don't take credit cards and that was the only form of payment we had on us. We were very intrigued by it though. I love this idea and I hope it catches fire and puts the feudal lords out of business.

Wait, what? The Right Wing insists that this should not be possible. They must be subsidized by Obama personally, that Commie. Paying workers a living wage goes against everything the Right Wing believes in. Expect both stores to collapse into black holes, sucking in everything within a 500 mile radius. Any day now, it will happen.

Seriously though, I wish we had this store near me here in Canada. We have Costco and it's a good store.

Originally posted by NavyDoc

Originally posted by ForteanOrg

Originally posted by solongandgoodnight
reply to post by dominicus

 

thanks! this made me smile. it seems true capitalism is at work. or at least it does to me. I wish them the best.

It's fascinating to see how we differ: you think this is capitalism at work, I think it is anarchy. But one thing is for sure: we're both happy to see this happen

How is it not capitalism? Someone starts a store. It is successful and he sells it--capitalism.

Former CEO and some senior employees buy the store and it makes profit for them and their employees--capitalism.

I fail to see any anarchy involved.

The employees owning the store they work at? Nope, not anarchy. When employees own and manage the means of production it is called...

Wait for it....socialism.

Originally posted by TheComte

Originally posted by NavyDoc

Originally posted by ForteanOrg

Originally posted by solongandgoodnight
reply to post by dominicus

 

thanks! this made me smile. it seems true capitalism is at work. or at least it does to me. I wish them the best.

It's fascinating to see how we differ: you think this is capitalism at work, I think it is anarchy. But one thing is for sure: we're both happy to see this happen

How is it not capitalism? Someone starts a store. It is successful and he sells it--capitalism.

Former CEO and some senior employees buy the store and it makes profit for them and their employees--capitalism.

I fail to see any anarchy involved.

The employees owning the store they work at? Nope, not anarchy. When employees own and manage the means of production it is called...

Wait for it....socialism.

But it is not socialism in this case is it? The CEO and a few others raised capital to buy the company from the owner--capitalism.

Good employees who stay for a long time are rewarded with a piece of the company to inspire loyalty (happens in many companies and has for a long time. ( Consider this thing known as "stock.") --capitalism.

Employees reimbursed by the value they bring to the company--capitalism.

Nope. This is an example of good old fashioned capitalistic entrepreneurship.

WinCo is a grocery store with extra stuff, where as Wal-Mart is a retail store that expanded into groceries. The profit margin is smaller in retail than in groceries.

According to Glass Door, WinCo does pay more.

Winco Wages from Glass Door



Wal-Mart Wages from Glass Door



If you go to the Wal-Mart link first you will see the whole table. Glass Door gives only one unrestricted search

WinCo sells Shasta Diet Cola, which is sweetened with sucralose, no aspartame. WinCo also has bulk flax seed and bulk sesame seed, not bad tasting after swelled up with water.

And the employee ownership seems to be a fair way to live. WinCo has had a lot of labor problems over the years, I don't know why. I heard ads on the radio, by labor against WinCo a lot in the last 10 years. Maybe that is satisfactorily resolved now.

And WinCo does not take credit cards. Cash, ATM, Personal Check are accepted. All credit card transactions charge a fee. I guess ATM transactions are free or much less money per transaction.

reply to post by benrl


And don't forget who the biggest lobbyist for the Food Stamp program is-----the grocery industry. Any business that accepts food stamps is being subsidized by the government in that amount. I don't know exactly what distortion that entitlement program causes to the price of groceries but I'm sure it's there. We know there is a relationship between prices and demand, and with the level of "fixed" demand provided by that program it allows retailers to not have to drop prices like they would otherwise.

Never heard of this chain before. However, we are getting the first Aldi's close to where I live.

reply to post by NavyDoc


NavyDoc is right on the money.

The only reason this would be seen as anything other than capitalism is because the word "capitalism" has been perverted. Today, most people wouldn't know a true capitalism society. The ideas of capitalism have been perverted to mean big business destroying the little guy, controlling the government, treating employees and the environment like garbage. That's not capitalism. That's corporate fascism.

You can easily have a capitalist country that doesn't have evil corporations running the government. The trick is to have politicians that actually stand behind the people, not the pocketbook of a megacorporation. And politicians that are smart enough to understand the difference between a biological being with feelings, and an entity that exists only in paper and concrete.

Dolphins aren't people, but corporations are? How silly of an idea. Anyone that thinks corporations are people is a mental midget undeserving of life.

reply to post by NavyDoc


Isn't it a given that they have to buy the store to begin with? Of course they have to raise "capital" to buy the store. But as soon as the workers own a piece of the "means of production," in this case the store, then it is socialism by the definition of the word. Keep in mind this is different than what most people think socialism means.

Plus, we can't say that it is 100% either/or. The USA is a mixed economy with aspects of both capitalism and socialism and so is the case of this store.

Socialism

a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

dictionary.reference.com...

reply to post by dominicus

Wish they had Win-Co here in lower Mi. Sounds like a great place.
In the mean time I do all my shopping at Meijers. A locally owned chain That kinda compares to walmart in they have pretty much everything but I believe a lot of the workers are union so they make a good wage.
I know a lot of people may be anti-union but not too many union workers are.

Kind of a side track to the OP but watching the first of the final episodes of Mad Men the other night, they had a huge stack of cas in storage locker and his wife says"how big does it have to be?"....The wal mart people are billionaires. How can you live with that much money and know your legacy is that you have single handedly destroyed small town America?
How big does their pile have to be before they start paying a wage that gets them off the top of the list of most employees on welfare?

I dont think every employee at any retail business should earn a "living wage"....thats what minimum wage is for. HIGH SCHOOLERS and young adults just starting to earn a few bucks to take a sweet heart out on friday night.

Originally posted by TheComte
reply to post by NavyDoc

 

Isn't it a given that they have to buy the store to begin with? Of course they have to raise "capital" to buy the store. But as soon as the workers own a piece of the "means of production," in this case the store, then it is socialism by the definition of the word. Keep in mind this is different than what most people think socialism means.

Plus, we can't say that it is 100% either/or. The USA is a mixed economy with aspects of both capitalism and socialism and so is the case of this store.

Socialism

a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

dictionary.reference.com...

edit on 13-8-2013 by TheComte because: (no reason given)

However, that does not describe WinnCo. They have a CEO and management structure just like any other company. The CEO and senior management with permission of the employees used the retirement trust fund to buy the company from the owners. The company is now "owned" by the trust that is managed by the CEO and executive board. As a bonus structure for good and hardworking employees, employees are given what amounts to stock options in the company so yes, in a capitalistic sense, every employee that stays on for a while owns part of the company as he is given shares in the stock of the trust. The employees are (gasp) stockholders.

CEO is paid what a CEO is usually paid for such a position. Beginning floor workers are paid slightly above minimum wage, but have some nice benefits and, if they stick around and perform well, can get some stock.

There really is nothing in the above definition of socialism that fits WinnCo.

Not to be an add for them but they (Winco) often have the most local grown foods and fresher produce!

Walmart has mostly stuff from MEXICO!

I do not shop at Walmart! I do not support them and no one should! I am sorry for those that work there but believe me there are better places that or they need to change their policies and how do you force them?


VOTE WITH YOUR MONEY!

I understand if you do not have an option but if you do you Damn well better be doing this!

Companies like Costco and WinCo, who see the benefit of ensuring that their workers are treated like human beings, should be the ones given support by our government, not filth like the Walton family.

Originally posted by macman
reply to post by dominicus

 

Well, that is great to hear. Good for them.

Last I checked though, businesses are free to charge what they want, pay what they want and buy from who they want.

And look at the mess it has gotten the world in. Multiple times......

Maybe if buisness ethics were enforced the world would be a better place and captilism would work better.

Originally posted by NavyDoc
Former CEO and some senior employees buy the store and it makes profit for them and their employees--capitalism. I fail to see any anarchy involved.

We probably see what we want to see. However, let me explain why I believe that a company that is set up by the workers themselves and that pays only fair wages - while striving for the best and most affordable products - is an anarchistic system in my opinion.

Anarchism comes in a number of flavours. But it is safe to say that even moderate anarchistic systems involve reduction of the influence of private owners. Anarchists know that all wealth has been created and is created by the mutual efforts of ALL, and hence everything is owned equally by anybody, including the inheritance of our forefathers. In an anarchy anybody can take what he or she wants if there is plenty. And there will be plenty if all simply contribute reasonably, each using his or her specific talents.

Capitalism, on the other hand, tries to increase the influence of private owners. It is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. Note: for THEIR profit, not that of everybody else.

So: in an anarchy we will see cooperations that try to distribute wealth evenly to all. From what I read here, that's exactly what the folks at WinCo try to do. They are anarchists in my book.

Were they capitalists, we would see underpayed workers and rich owners. That's NOT what they do.

Hence my opinion.

Originally posted by tinner07


I dont think every employee at any retail business should earn a "living wage"....thats what minimum wage is for. HIGH SCHOOLERS and young adults just starting to earn a few bucks to take a sweet heart out on friday night.

Why not!

If the company can afford it then they dam well should pay living wage!

If a compnay is turning over large steady profits then there is no excuse not to pay living wages or make job losses.


This is what gets me about the pro coperation brigade. How can you support it when they make BILLIONS in profits yet pay there workers beleow the living wage, make job losses left right and center, hike prices and worse of all get excemptions and special treatments from goverments that create a unfiar playing field for small business.

Unresticted capitlism only works when everyone is honnest and has good intention. Fact is most humans dont have either of them, hence why regulation is nessary. Proper regulation not the pro co operation regulation we have now.

Originally posted by TheComte
reply to post by NavyDoc

 

Isn't it a given that they have to buy the store to begin with? Of course they have to raise "capital" to buy the store. But as soon as the workers own a piece of the "means of production," in this case the store, then it is socialism by the definition of the word. Keep in mind this is different than what most people think socialism means.

Plus, we can't say that it is 100% either/or. The USA is a mixed economy with aspects of both capitalism and socialism and so is the case of this store.

Socialism

a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

dictionary.reference.com...

edit on 13-8-2013 by TheComte because: (no reason given)

You want to see social engineering on a massive scale, Simply look to the Fallacies most people hold toward Communism, Socialism, and Democracy.

all they need to do is call something Good for us Socialism, and people will rally against it to their own determent.

Never is this more clear than with the US Representative Republic vs Democracy. They have convinced people that their opinions matter more than electing responsible reps.